The Angel and the Saint
by B.D. Skunkworks
Summary: Angell is a normal seventeen year old teenager from earth...or at least she WAS a normal seventeen year old teenager from earth. After waking up on the previously unexplored plane of Terra-Fausta, she learns that the fate of this world hangs squarely on her shoulders. Lead by prophecy and the might of the white order, Angell begins her quest to find the white sun's zenith.
1. Chapter 1

The following is a magic the gathering fanfic. As you have no doubt already guessed. But I'm tempting something a little different. Instead of focusing solely on the characters that already exist, I chose to inject my own creations strait into the heart of the multiverse. It's my own take on magic; something like a , "What if two kids awoke one day and found out they weren't in Kansas anymore?" kind of thing.

One more note. Since the multiverse is an endless expanse of alternate realities waiting to be discovered, why not expand it yourself by creating your own plane? Again, just trying something a little different here. Well, enough jabberin' outta me, let's get on to the story!

*Welcome to the multiverse*

_**Listen to what I've to say_

_Hear my words yes I will lead the way_

_Follow me and we'll never be apart_

_Just stab your blade right into their hearts**_

-WinterStorm- Battle cry

_*CHAPTER _

_ONE *_

My name is Angell Maria Cameron, and I love magic the gathering. I started playing just late last year in 2011, but I took to the game instantly. There was just nothing else like it in the world. The characters, the worlds, the spells, just everything is so- oh! Now is not the time to be talking. Right now I'm in a fight for my life…with my best friend.

"I'll pay five mana," I said as I turn five of the ten plains I control sideways. "And cast Angelic Destiny to Thalia."

My opponent grins at me from across the table, "Impressive enchantment, planeswalker," he sneered. "But I've a response!"

"Do thy worst, night bane," I challenged.

"I will pay three black mana and cast Doom Blade upon Thalia! The girl dies!" he cackled.

"Not just yet," I said with cool confidence. "For I will respond by paying two white mana and casting Stave Off ,granting Thalia protection from your cursed magic."

His eyes widened with surprised horror. "But how?"

"Now I enter combat!" I cried. "Go, Thalia, remove this vermin from my sight!"

Thalia flew forth on her new wings, right over the heads of my rival's black horde and delivered the finishing blow.

"How can this be!" he cried and fell out of his chair and onto the floor. He was dead.

Then we both burst out laughing.

"Man, that's two in a row. Am I losin' my touch?" my vanquished opponent said, propping his elbows on the table. His name was Saints, well, really his name was Tracy St. Ivan, but everyone called him by his nickname, Saints. We were both seventeen, in our last year of high school, and more or less joined at the hip. Me and Saints had known each other since fourth grade. Our meeting was hilarious. We were in our science class and our teacher was telling us about tectonics, and how mountains were made by the plates colliding and forcing the earth to rise upwards. She asked Saints if he could name one impressive trait that all mountains share, and he said, "Yeah, they all make red mana."

Everyone looked at him like he was freakin' nuts. Except me. I responded with a timely, "Red sucks, white's the best!"

The rest is history.

We cleared up our game and I walked Saints to the door.

"Best day of the week tomorrow," he said brightly.

"Friday night magic, wouldn't miss it," I said back.

Saints winked and walked out the door…only to run back in. "Holy crap, forgot somthin'" he said. He ran back to the table and bent his head under and retrieved a black-sleeved card. "My Black Sun Zenith." he stared at the card thoughtfully for a moment. "You know, if I had just one more swamp, I could have ended it right there." he said.

"Yeah but you didn't, sucks to be you." I said.

Saints pulled one corner of his mouth into a grin. "Maybe tomorrow then."

"If we get matched up, which has only happened once, and I _clearly _recall kickin' your ass." I said wisely.

"Heh, lady fortune shall not smile upon you in our next meeting, white mage." And with that, he took off down the street, his ultra pro back pack rattling with loose dice and deck boxes.

I shut the door and stood listening to the silence for a while. Mom wouldn't be back from work until about nine. I climbed the stairs to my bedroom and decided to take a shower. Maybe now I can finish introducing myself. My name's Angell Cameron. I'm mixed race; half Mexican , half Caucasian. I live with my mom in a two-story house in Southern New Jersey. My life isn't too exciting, I just go to school, play games, and then go to school again. Nothin' major. I swung open my door, which bore a home made sign that read *Now entering the Multiverse*, and shut it closed behind me.

My room was freakin' awesome.

Every last inch was covered with some kind of magic merchandise. Figurines stood on every dresser top, posters of planeswalkers took up the entire ceiling. The original color of my walls was impossible to tell, as they were plastered over with hundreds upon hundreds of magic cards. I put my commons to good use. I walked into my private bathroom and showered up. The hot water felt good.

It was about nine thirty and I was half asleep. I hardly heard my bedroom door creak open. The next thing I knew my mom had suddenly appeared on the edge of my bed. "You awake, sweetie?"

She cooed. "Yeah," I said, sitting up. She sat down next to me and stroked my hair. "You're so much like your father," she said. I had no idea how to respond to that. I never knew my father, he left my mom before I was even born. She never really talked about him, and I never really asked. It was just me and mom, that's how it always was. My mom's name is Andrea Cameron, coolest white chick you'll ever meet. 'cause that's my mom, and I love her to death.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight. I hugged back. "Hey, mom, it's not that I mind, but what's with all the sudden affection? You don't have bad news for me or something do you?"

Mom shook her head slowly. "No, honey," she said. "I'm just appreciating what I have. My sweet baby girl." she rocked me slowly back and forth.

"Mom, you know I'm not a kid anymore, right?"

"All too well."

"Well, do you think now you can tell me why dad left?"

Mom held me at arms length and looked at me with her beautiful green eyes, the same eyes I inherited. "He had…things to do." she answered finally.

"Like?"

"A calling, I guess you could say."

I rolled the answer around in my head for a while, but wasn't content with it. She was being distant, which I guess was acceptable; this was a pretty emotional conversation. She stood up and slowly made her way to the door, stopping just long enough to gaze up to my ceiling posters. "Planeswalkers…," she sighed.

"Greatest beings in the multiverse," I said .

Mom looked at me and smiled somewhat sadly. "Your father is going to be so proud of you." she said. Then she closed the door.

Her last statement left me feeling a little strange. How would I know if my father was proud of me? She said it in future tense, making it seem like I was _going_ to do something to make him so.

I decided not to pursue it. I lay back down and my head sank into the pillow. Sleep was coming on fast, and it would not be denied.

I was awake, but not fully; caught in that awkward place between sleep and consciousness. I was well aware of what was around me, even though I couldn't actually see it. What I felt was…well, I didn't really know what it was, but I knew that it was soft and I seemed to be surrounded by it. I opened my eyes… and had to immediately shut them again. I was blinded by sunlight. I opened my eyes again, much more slowly this time and found myself lying in a field of grass staring at a wide blue sky.

I sat up slowly and turned my head to get a better view of my surroundings. Nothin' but grass…lots of grass. This was some dream I was having, I swear I could actually _feel_ the heat of the sun's rays on my skin. As strange as this was, the stranger thing was that I didn't feel entirely out of place here. In this huge field of grass I felt kind of at ease, as though me being here was somehow…right. I took a few slow steps forward and made a discovery. There was a path that winded through this immense field, a road. It was well-worn and stretched as far as my eyes could see. I drew a line in the hard-packed dirt with my toe and made another discovery. I was fully dressed. The clothing was simple, I mean really simple. They could have easily passed for something out of eighteen- hundred -something. I wore a white cloth tunic, which was supposedly fitted for women, as it allotted room for my breasts, which was good, because it didn't come with a bra.

The skirt was long, also white, and came to just about my ankles, which were hidden in long black boots.

I don't remember sleeping in these clothes.

My dream got even stranger, because it was at that point that I heard something. It was still a ways off, but it was distinct. It sounded like…wheels. Big wooden wheels…and hooves. I looked to my left and saw coming down the road was a horse-drawn carriage. As it drew closer I could immediately tell that this thing was not built for pleasure rides. The carriage was a huge black box with barred windows and looked to be made of iron rather than wood. This was a prisoner transport. I actually didn't even stop to think how and why these details came so easily to me, or how they didn't surprise me. It was a dream, I just went with it.

They carriage came to an abrupt stop and the two horses pulling it whinnied in agitated surprise. There were four men in the carriage. Four huge, powerful-looking men. They must have been soldiers, or possibly jailers. They wore the same light-weight leather armor that made them look to be in uniform. It was clear they all worked for the same organization.

They all turned to look at me, but it was the driver on the far left who spoke first. "Oy there, girl!" he barked.

I actually turned my head around a few times, just to be sure there was no one else around. "Uh…me?" I couldn't have sounded any lamer.

"Of course, ye, idiot! Who else is there to speak to?"

I remained silent.

"What is it that you are doing out here?"

"Uhh…"

"Well, what say you? Have ye no tongue to speak?"

Why the hell was he talking like that? "I uh, just kind of woke up here." It sounded stupid, but it was the absolute truth.

The men in the carriage shared a laugh. "Hung over from Carnivalium are you?" the far driver said.

"Carni-what?"

"Had ye a good time, eh? Can't remember a blasted thing!" the men laughed again. I didn't get the joke. "I could offer ye a ride back to town. A pretty thing like you shouldn't be left out in the wilderness, eh?"

I didn't like the way he said that.

Just then, there was a bang from the prison of the carriage. A tiny whimper of pain reverberated in it's iron walls. One of the jailers jumped from his seat with his weapon at the ready. It was a short, thick club that looked to be made of hardened leather. He walked back to the prison door, opened it, and jumped inside. There were the sounds of a struggle going on inside, that caused the carriage to rock violently. The other jailers jumped from their seats and ran to help their partner.

Just a moment later, all four of them returned to the front, each securing a limb of a small and obviously frightened man. I tensed up slightly, but didn't necessarily feel sorry for him. If he was a prisoner, he was likely a criminal, and more or less deserved what he was to get. I still couldn't get over how real this dream felt.

"Please!" the little man begged. " 'Twas not magic! 'Twas an illusion! Spark powder left over from Carnivalium! I swear it!"

Did I hear that right? Did he say magic?

"Spare me your lies, magician!" said the lead jailer. "The fire you conjured was unnatural. Never in my life have I seen a blue flame!"

"If I were a magician, would I not conjure fire right now to save myself?" the man pleaded.

"So now you make threats, sinner?" the lead jailer roared.

"No! I didn't mean-"

Before I knew what was happening, the jailers had thrown the man to the ground and beat him mercilessly with their clubs. He cried in sheer pained terror as he flung his arms up in a futile attempt to protect himself from the vicious onslaught.

It was too much for me to take.

"STOP IT!" I shrieked. My shrill voice carried through out the field, causing the men to look up in surprise.

It was the lead jailer who broke the silence. "Those who empathize with sinners are but sinners themselves. Take her!"

The three other jailers locked their sights on me and began to advance. My heart jumped into my throat and I tripped over backwards and fell on my butt. This dream was getting way too real. But that's about when you wake up right? Just when the scary stuff is about to happen? The three men advance on me as I crawled backwards across the grass, too afraid to take my eyes off them. But just then, I began to feel something else. The ground beneath me started to grow warm. At first, I didn't know what to make of it, I thought it was the startled spike of body heat that accompanies a terror attack. But this was different. It intensified; it grew. Every blade of grass suddenly felt as though it were electrified, thrumming; charged as though by some kind of…power.

How I knew what to do next, is beyond me.

The men were almost on me. They laughed as they formed a circle around me, cutting off any chance of escape. They lunged in to grab me.

That's when I made my decision.

I didn't want this to happen.

I had to protect myself.

I had to act.

Now.

I threw my arms up around my head and shouted "Stave Off!"

There was a huge flash of white blinding light, and the three men were hurled backwards, as though forced from the area by an explosion. I sat there breathlessly with my arms still above my head. What did I just do? And how did I know to do it?

The lead jailer flung me a look of such intense anger that it actually made me whimper; a tiny sound that barely escaped my fear-tightened throat. "You will pay for that, sinner!" He strode towards me with furious pace. His footfalls seems to shake the ground. Before I could act, he was upon me, and reached out to grab my throat.

I knew I could beat him.

The grass around me crackled with warm energy as I summoned my will. "Stave Off!" I shouted. The same white light flash through the field, only this time, my target didn't move.

"Your tricks will not work on me, mage." The jailer growled as he tapped a large circular amulet that was draped around his neck.

One word came to mind. "Hexproof…" I moaned.

The jailer grinned a gruesome grin, raised his club, and struck it down.

Everything went black.

I was awake again; the pain in my head told me so. I was lying on something hard and cold; face down at that. My eyes creaked open and the room slowly swam into focus, then out of focus, and into focus again. From my lowly position, I found myself staring at several pairs of booted feet…through thick iron bars.

I was in prison.

I wriggled the fingers of my right hand. They were stiff. It must have been hours since I moved at all.

"Ah. She is waking," I heard a voice say. I managed to push myself into a kneeling position and found a blurry face staring through the bars at me. "My, my, that is quite the bruise you've got," it said.

"wha…huh…?" My brain still couldn't string two proper words together.

"Humph. I was hoping that blow would have killed her," said an angry voice to the right. It immediately brought back a memory. It was the jailer who knocked me out.

The man crouching in front of me chose to ignore this particular statement, and instead spoke to me. "Can you stand?" he asked. I obliged, walking my hands up the bars to steady myself. By the time I stood again to my towering height of 5'4, I was ready to fall down again. "Here, drink this," the man said, sliding a wooden goblet through the bars. I starred at him quizzically.

He laughed a little. "Do not worry," he said. "I'm the doctor here. This will help your blood flow and clear your head."

I took the small cup and stared into it. I could feel the jailer's beady eyes of hatred boring right into me. I didn't dare look at him. I raised the cup to my lips and took a small swig. The stuff tasted like acid flavored Nyquil . I coughed as it left a burning trail down my throat. Right away my head went fuzzy again, and then at once cleared up again. I couldn't even feel the lump on my head anymore. "Some stuff you got here, doc," I said, downing the rest.

The doctor took the cup from me; my vision and senses having fully returned. "Now then, young lady. Do you think you can tell us your name?"

"My name is Angell," I said steadily.

The jailer spit on the floor. "These sinners are all alike!" he shouted. "Such audacity to take a name from the seven heavens!"

I had absolutely no idea what the hell he was talking about. Or why he was so freakin' mad.

"Honestly, Gavis! Such language is far from necessary!"

Gavis? What the hell kind of name was that? This dream was getting stupid. "The poor child was merely protecting herself. As one would no doubt do when confronted with the brutality of you and your crooked branch of authority."

"Our job is to purify the world of such vermin," the jailer countered. "Wielders of such unnatural power have no right to exist!"

"Perhaps this hatred of yours is not but jealousy?" the doctor said, finally turning to face the smug jailer.

"Maybe you have forgotten what their kind has done to ours?" Gavis said stoutly.

"I hail not from this city, so it is no concern nor history of mine. That said; I find it a shame that this city's fearful influence has spread as it has over Terra-Fausta. And how many so willingly buy into it."

Terra-what? That's it. No more magic the gathering before bed. Time to wake up now!

"Your words matter not," Gavis said flatly. "The girl is to be executed at nightfall."

Seriously. WAKE UP!

"Your captain will never approve of this!" cried the doctor.

"What he does not know will not hurt him," said Gavis quietly.

"Is that so?" said a strong voice from the doorway.

We all turned to meet the source of the voice. What I saw made me want to pass out again. "C-captain Jura!" sputtered Gavis. He hastily put his right fist to his heart and took to one knee. The tall and impressive man looked down on him with a stone-like face. "Leave my sight, now. You shall be dealt with later." Gavis scrambled from the room, his sight never leaving the floor. Then the man turned to me.

I couldn't breathe. I think I had forgotten how to at that point. Standing there in front of me was something impossible. No. some_one_ impossible. Someone who I knew was not real. Someone who I knew that couldn't possibly exist. Someone who's only reality was played out in my mind. "G-G-G-…Gideon Jura…" I said with no voice at all.

The planeswalker cocked his head slightly. "So, you know of me," he said. His voice was so even, steady, and sure. I could tell he was confident in his ability to control any situation with just his words. "Tell me, do you reside here in Lu-Dirra?"

"Lu…what?"

"My lord, if I may…" the doctor said timidly.

"Speak," said Gideon.

"I believe that blow to the head that the girl suffered may be affecting her memory. She was unable to recall anything of this city when previously asked."

"So it would seem," Gideon said. "Perhaps a memory spell would serve. Denor, how fair your blue mana arts?"

The doctor, Denor, looked to the floor somewhat shamefully, "I've none to my name, my lord. I delve only in white."

" 'Tis no matter," Gideon said reassuringly. "Her memory will return in time. But until then, It may be for her own safety to remain where she is now."

"Wait!" I shouted. "Aren't they going kill me if I stay here?"

Gideon's eyes narrowed. "No such fate shall befall you as long as I am here," he said. I wonder why I was so worried. It was only a dream. It wouldn't matter if I died or anything. "Denor. Go fetch some blankets for the girl. This cell is for her protection, not her punishment," Gideon commanded. Denor obeyed and departed with a bow to Gideon and a small smile to me.

It was just me and Gideon. I was alone with a figment of my imagination…great. He stared at me now, and I found myself unable to meet his penetrating gaze. "So, you honestly have no recollection of this city you are from?" he said to me. I slowly shook my head. But just then, an idea came to me. It wasn't until just that moment that I truly realized who I was talking to.

"I don't know this city because I am not from here," I said slowly. Then I played my trump card. "What is the name of this plane?"

The effect was instant.

Gideon's icy calm was shattered by his eyebrows shooting into his hairline. He walked quickly to my cell, produced a bronze key from his pocket, and opened the door. I was free.

"Why did you not speak sooner?" Gideon asked me in surprise.

"I didn't want to alarm the doctor," I said coolly. Now _I_ was in control.

"Well, if not here, then what plane do you hail from?" he asked me with a touch of excitement.

I strolled towards the middle of the gray room, enjoying the control I suddenly had over this legendary figure. I stopped, and turned towards him. "Earth," I said. "I'm from a plane called earth."

*End of chapter 1*


	2. Chapter 2

*Chapter 2*

Saints was awake. He knew this because he could feel what was around him. But what he felt didn't make sense; he felt cold and wet, but for some reason…he liked it. He sat up quickly, as one would do when awaking from a nightmare. His surroundings were unknown, but somehow…familiar. He stood up slowly, weighed down slightly by the cold slimy water that saturated his clothing.

The clothing he had no hope of recognizing.

Apparently in this dream, he was some kind of noble. His clothes were all black, highly stylized with handsome silver trim. His tunic fit snugly and was covered in a thick silk jacket that was buttoned up to his chin. His pants were strait-legged and neatly creased. As impressive as he was intended to look, the overall image was diminished by the fact that he was soaking wet.

There was no daylight in this place. The overgrown canopies of barely nourished trees saw to that. Saints could think of a few words to describe this place: mire; bog;

Swamp.

The lack of daylight didn't bother Saints in the least. His suddenly over-keen eyesight allowed him to see perfectly. He took a slow step, then another; the sudden voice in his head stopped him from taking a third.

"_So…the second has awakened as well."_

Saints stopped and turned his head one direction, and then the other. The voice had come from no discernable outside source. He wasn't mistaken; it was in his head. Seeing no being to direct his voice at, he prepared a non-verbal response. 'Who are you?' he said in his head.

"_I am known as the whispering one_," the voice hissed.

Saints could feel the cold self-amused malice in the voice; and a definite feminine edge as well. It took him all of two seconds to learn who it was. 'Sheoldred…' he said.

The voice hesitated, and then spoke at length. _"…So you know of me. Perhaps that is for the best; no mysteries; no reservations."_

'What do you want?' Saints asked the praetor mentally. For some reason, it didn't bother or surprise him to be having a telepathic conversation with a fictional creature.

"_I am here to guide you, but only through words."_

'Guide me? For what? How about telling' me just what the hell's goin' on?'

"_Seek the Zenith. And crush the angel that is destined to oppose you."_

'Great guidance..' Saints said mentally. 'Any other tips?'

There was no response. The voice of Sheoldred had left his head, and left him alone. In this cold, dark and somehow comforting swamp.

…

I had his attention. Gideon stared at me with an objective wonder in his eye; begging me without words to continue speaking. "I've been to other planes as well," I said. "Zendikar, Mirrodin, Shadowmoor, Innistrad, I've seen 'em all. But good old earth is home to me." I didn't think I'd be able to control this dream so well.

"I have never heard of this…earth you speak of. The multiverse is truly vast," Gideon said with quiet measure.

"Indeed it is," I said cheerfully. "So now it's about time we…"

Something in my brain snapped. Something about what was going on here suddenly made me go absolutely crazy.

"Wait a minute…What am I doing!" Gideon actually took a small step backward; startled by my sudden outburst. "This is a dream! I'm standing here talking to a guy who doesn't even freakin' exist!"

"Hm…Perhaps Denor's medicine has had some side effects…" Gideon mused.

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" I positively shouted. "Do you know what you are where I come from? You're a fictional character; a game! We put you on trading cards and play with you for our amusement! And if you wanna get personal, I don't even run you in my deck! I'm more of an Elspeth kind of girl."

Gideon remained quiet for some time, staring at me with confused curiosity. At length he said, "What are trading cards?"

I couldn't take it anymore.

I pinched my arm as hard as I could; really twisting my fingernails into my skin. "Wake up!" I commanded myself. I slapped myself across the face. Hard. "Wake up, now!"

I hit myself again and again.

Gideon finally crossed the room and arrested my arms at my side. "Stop," he said simply. That one simple command completely disarmed me. He didn't say it forcefully, but he managed to convey the fact that he would _make_ me stop if I didn't cooperate. I looked up to him now, with tears blurring my vision. What I couldn't suppress right away was my immediate thought; he was so handsome. His eyes were hard and clear. If anything about what I knew about him was true, I knew those eyes had seen many a battle, and would see many more. His mouth now was hard-set; his lips looked firm. His shoulder length brown hair looked like a lion's proud mane; further enhancing his aura of masculine authority.

Whoa.

Time to stop admiring the fictional guy.

"I can understand your fear," he said. "You are in a strange and unfamiliar place. Fear of the unknown can be good; but you cannot allow that fear to consume you."

He let my arms go and took a slow step back; his eyes locked on mine, as to better gauge my impending reaction. "Okay…I'm fine," I sniffed. My mind was…well, I didn't really know where my mind was at that point. Apparently I had lost it somewhere between home and this place. Could this be real? And if so, _what _was real in this place? All the dreams I've ever had of the multiverse and of being a planeswalker were just that; dreams. Fantasies nurtured by a fictional experience, a game of adventures; of imagination and possibility. How could it be real?

By that token; was I real? Suddenly being able to traverse the blind eternities that was the multiverse pretty much put me on the same pedestal as every one else who could actually do it. The planeswalkers. The same beings who only lived in my imagination…until now. "Okay," I said quietly. "Tell me about Terry- Foster." If this was my new reality I had at least learn everything I can about it.

"Terra-Fausta," Gideon corrected gently. "The history of this plane is a dark one. Long ago, when this city of Lu-Dirra was in but it's infancy, a clan of wild mages attacked. They called themselves the Illuminati. They were mages with no masters, no laws, and no morality. In this particular point in history, being able to wield magic at all was considered unnatural; a crime; a sin. Anyone exhibiting any magical fortitude whatsoever was branded an enemy of mankind, and thus persecuted and put to death."

"But that's.. that's just…" I couldn't find the right words to express my disgust at this injustice.

"It was the way of world at the time," Gideon said calmly. "The illuminati were a group of escapees; outlaws having evaded capture banded together with a singular purpose. Revenge. They raided and destroyed villages, recruiting any mages, who were all too willing to join their forces; their only other choice being execution at the hands of humanity.

Over time, the Illuminati became an incredibly formidable force. Having recruited mages from all over Terra-Fausta for their cause. And then they set their sight on Lu-Dirra. As they marched on the city, they were met with but one soldier of resistance. Sabaton."

"Sabaton…" I've never heard the name before, but for some reason, it resonated with me. It echoed; it had power. I could only imagine the figure worthy of such an impressive name.

"He was the only soldier in this plane's history to be able to wield the mightiest of all magic weaponry. The sword of body and mind."

"I know that sword!" I cried aloud. "It grants protection from certain mages. And it mills your library!" Gideon cocked his head at that last statement. "Or…uh…suppresses your ability to wield magic by destroying your uncast spells," I amended. I'd have to get used to not using earth lingo around here.

"Precisely," Gideon said. "The Illuminati were simply no match for the awesome power of the sword. Shortly after; they were defeated. And Sabaton's name and legacy were celebrated throughout the ages, even to this day."

"Amazing…" I said. And then I realized something about the tale wasn't right. "So, if mages were enemies at that time, why would they idolize someone who wields a magic sword?"

"People are not without their ironies," Gideon grimaced. "Having killed all known wielders of magic, humanity had no hope of opposing a unified body of that which they sought to destroy. Their only chance of survival was to depend on that which they feared; magic."

"Okay I get," I said. "Humans killed mages; mages rallied and took their revenge; and then the mages were defeated. Why do I get the feeling that the trend in starting up again?"

"Fear is a powerful force. Without anyone to wield the sword of body and mind, humans are once again seeking to snuff out any source of potential magical revolution."

Something else still bothered me. "From what I've heard, you're the captain of this city's…mage hunters."

"Indeed," Gideon said solemnly. "But I am not the same black-hearted beast as you have already encountered."

"Gavis, that jerk." I spouted.

"while it is true that I do hunt the mages, I do so for their protection. I bring them here and set them into hiding. Under my authority, they are not to be harmed by any other members of the unit. The only ones who even know they poses magic power are the ones who bring them here. As long as they exhibit no magic, they are impossible to tell from normal humans."

"Hiding in plain sight." I took a few steps around the gray room and then came to a decision. "I want to see the city," I said.

Gideon smiled. "I do tire of this ugly scenery," he said. "Perhaps an outing is in order. Let us go." He swung open the metal door to the room and gestured handsomely for me to proceed first. I was starting to like this guy. I stepped through the open door and into a dimly lit corridor. There were many identical metal doors lining this hallway, no doubt they were all prison cells. Luckily my cell was at the very head of the corridor, apparently Gavis and company were too lazy to carry me to one of the deeper cells, idiots.

Gideon led the way up two flights of winding stone stairs and pried open one final door before I was met with sunlight. Glorious sunlight. I did a two-footed hop out the door and cried out, "Freedom!" Gideon gave a small laugh and beckoned me to follow his lead. So this was it.

This was Lu-Dirra.

My first thought was that I was watching a fantasy movie at home, like lord of the rings or something. The street we were on was wide, it needed to be, as it was positively packed with bustling people. The street was lined with merchants, crying bargains to potential patrons. People of all ages and walks of life scurried about. Some were children carrying baskets laden with foodstuff while keeping close to a well dressed adult. Many of them seemed to be commoners, dressed relatively simple, as I was. Guess that made me a commoner…oh well. In all, it was a truly impressive scene. I always wanted to know what a thirteenth century city would look like. Now I was living it; assuming it was the thirteenth century of course.

"These are the main streets of the city," Gideon said as he lead the way. Our progress was made much easier seeing as the city folk gave Gideon a wide berth as he came through, most offering some kind of salute. Gideon inclined his head and returned the salute to everyone he could. It awed me to see him garnering such respect, then again, I didn't expect anything different. He was Gideon freakin' Jura; he was the man. It made me a little proud on the inside to be able to be seen with him in public. Maybe one day I could be just like Gideon; parting crowds wherever I went…maybe.

As I took in the passing scenery, I began to notice some things a little out of place. For one, the dirt street we were walking was sprinkled with what looked like confetti, colorful little shreds of paper that seemed to be everywhere. There were huge banners that adorned the rooftops of every building. The banners were half black and half yellow, and had what looked to be the letter 'S' pierced by a sword. There was even an impromptu stage erected in the town square that we passed. And that's when it hit me. "Gideon, what is Carnivalium?"

"Carnivalium is the annual celebration of Sabaton's great victory over the Illuminati. 'Tis a glorious day of festivities. Parties, dancing, games and performances, culminating in a re-enacted battle between Sabaton and the Illuminati." Gideon said this with a little twinkle in his eye, as though the memory were bringing back some of Carnivalium's feel-good atmosphere into his mind. That little moment made me feel good as well. Gideon may have been a soldier, but he was still human; he had a softer side, a side that liked to have fun.

I chose to ignore the little flutter in my stomach.

As we walked the rest of the square I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a black cat standing in an alleyway. It stared at me intently with it's wide yellow eyes, as though looking for something that only it could see. I shook my head and hurried to catch up with Gideon.

And then suddenly from up ahead, there were screams. Both me and Gideon's heads whirled in their direction. City folk fled in sheer terror down the crowded street, knocking down more people than they avoided. Whatever it is they were running from, I couldn't see…until the building not thirty yards from us exploded. Splinters of wood stone and glass showered down through the air. Everyone now was running for their lives…except me and Gideon. He stood firm and stalwart, eyes scanning for the source of the mayhem. I was too scared to get my legs working.

Then, from amongst the wreckage, the assailants showed themselves. There were two of them. They were moving slowly; walking with a bizarre limp, and they didn't look human. Well, technically, they were human.. Or at least they used to be. Taking a look at their rotted skin and clothing, I knew right away that these were zombies.

"Why are we being attacked by zombies?" I asked Gideon. "Could it be a necromancer?"

Gideon remained silent. He was looking past the immediate threat, as though expecting some other danger. He would not have to wait for long.

Suddenly, there was the sound of thunder. The ground beneath me trembled. Just what the hell was that? The sound came again and this time I was knocked off my feet. And that's when I saw it. An immense shape rounded the next building and stood before us. The thing was well over twenty feet tall, it's skin was ashen and paper-thin. Despite it's size, the thing seemed to wasting away before our very eyes. It's body was riddled with corpses; arms and legs hung from it's hollow torso. I knew what this was.

It was a grave titan.

"A creature from the black order," Gideon growled. With a small flash of light, Gideon produced his weapon, the sural. And with one graceful whip-like movement, cut down the two zombies in our immediate range. That was the easy part. The titan let loose a savage roar, a hollow howl that seemed to shake the ground itself. Gideon stared up at the enormous creature now, pondering his next move.

"Gideon!" I shouted. He turned to me, looking all sorts of surprised. I rose up from the ground and stood at his side. "Stand back," I said.

"Unless you have a plan-"

"I do…I think," was my shaky response.

Gideon watched me carefully, and the titan even more so.

This was it. This was the moment. I knew I could defeat this thing. I was a planeswalker. It was time I started acting like one. Standing there in the cold shadow of the massive beast, I cast back in my brain for a memory. The memory of the first time I used magic. I had knowledge. Knowledge of many spells. Playing all those magic cards taught me to be a master of the multiverse. I could feel the warm sensation of mana flowing through my body. Blessed white mana. I had established a bond with a plain; it was time to use it.

The air around me swirled with energy, rippling my loose clothing. I raised my right hand and faced my palm towards the beast. I focused my will and shouted, "Smite the Monstrous!"

A beam of high-density moonlight erupted from my palm and flashed towards the titan. The beam penetrated the thing's rotted body and continued into infinity. Before it could even utter a pained howl, it exploded into a cloud of ash.

Grave Titan destroyed.

"How was that?" I said cockily.

"You could have at least told me you were going to do that," Gideon said with surprised relief. "But impressive none the less."

In my moment of triumph, I could feel something. _Many_ somethings; behind us. I turned around and was met with the eyes of hundreds of the city folk. After what had just happened, you'd think they'd be overjoyed. I just saved the city from potential destruction, and all they could do was stare at me? The eerie dead silence was as awkward as it was unbearable.

I looked to Gideon. "What's wrong with them? Was I _not_ supposed to save their city or something?"

Gideon stood stone faced and stared back into the crowd. I followed his gaze and my eyes fell on someone who I wish I could forget about. Standing in front of the crowd, was Gavis the jailer. He looked at me now with a combination of hatred and satisfaction. It was then that Gideon's words came flooding back to me. I remembered what he said about the mages hiding in the city. Before the day started, none of these people knew I even existed. Now everyone in Lu-Dirra knew I possessed magic.

I was set to be persecuted by the very people I just saved.

*End of Chapter 2*


	3. Chapter 3

*CHAPTER 3*

There were hundreds of eyes on me. It was like one of those dreams where you're standing in public in nothing but your underwear. I could think of nothing to say to ease the shock that these people have no doubt endured. "Arrest!" said a strong voice behind me. Thick wires of golden light shot from the ground and bound themselves around my limbs. My arms and legs were instantly tied together. I lost my balance and toppled over sideways into the dirt. I knew this spell, I ran it in my deck; I was all too familiar with it's effect. But who would cast it on me?

Gideon walked to my side and stood over me, casting a slight shadow. "I will take the girl into custody," he announced to the crowd. "There will be a communion in the next few hours, as to decide our course of action regarding her fate."

What!

Gideon knelt down next to me, and in one movement, picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. With my limbs bound there was nothing I could do as he carried me through the crowd. I trusted Gideon, why would he do this to me? I tried to avoid the passing eyes of the city folk as I bounced uncomfortably on Gideon's armored shoulder. He carried me back the way he came, I'm pretty sure I knew where he was headed. And sure enough, he swung open a heavy metal door and descended down a flight of stone steps. He opened the door to the cell and stepped inside. He gently set me down on my back and snapped his fingers. The golden ropes binding me were released and I stood up.

"Okay, you wanna tell me what all that was about!" I said sorely.

"I deeply apologize, Angell. But I had to make your arrest convincing." Gideon said. He really sounded sincere too.

"You suck…" I pouted. I did a small three-sixty in the center of the gray room. "This is just like every RPG I've ever played. I keep ending up in jail somehow." Gideon obviously had no response to that. I turned to him sharply. "What of this 'communion' your going to have about me. Is it going to be like a trial or something."

"Of sorts," Gideon said quietly. "The people will decide if you are to be imprisoned for your natural lifetime… or executed."

"Terrific…" This was starting to feel like a dream again. How could this possibly have happened? It felt like just hours ago that my two biggest concerns in life were passing my final exams and getting and getting an Elesh Norn to finish off my deck. Now here I was all set to be put on trial by a group of people who's lives I just saved. I was suddenly hit by a huge wave of ' I want to go home'.

It was just then that I started to feel something else. I couldn't quite place it; it tingled the back of my mind and made me feel somewhat uneasy. I don't know how or why, but I felt as though I _knew_ this feeling. It was strange…but familiar. I turned around and came face to face with a cloaked and hooded figure. I shrieked and fell backwards on my butt.

"Impressive," the figure purred in a deep and amused voice. "The girl could sense my presence before I even arrived."

"Jace Beleren, of the blue order," Gideon said.

"Jura," Jace said with inclination. He turned his head towards me. He stood cockily with his arms folded close to his chest. I could see nothing of his eyes, but I'm sure he was staring a hole strait through me.

"What is it that you are here for, Jace," Gideon said. "You do not normally show yourself, 'less you've business here."

Jace ignored him and continued staring at me. I guess when you could freely mess with people's minds, you didn't need to take them too seriously. Now might be a good time to mention that this guy always scared the hell out of me. "I'm here because I need…confirmation." he said at last.

"Regarding what?" Gideon's patience was running thin.

Jace again ignored him. He lifted his head and I finally saw his eyes. They were alive with mana. They glowed an intense blue-white and bore right into my brain. Suddenly my body felt weightless. My mind was replaced with a white haze as I lost control over my thoughts. I saw images. I saw home; I saw my room; I saw mom; I even saw Saints. And then I saw something else. The image seemed far off and out of focus, but it looked like a person; a man. His back was turned to me and I saw a mane of wild hair that blew in the wind. In his right hand he held a blazing sword. He turned his head and spoke something to me; his mouth forming words that I couldn't hear. And then it was over. My vision returned and immediately went blurry. I swayed a little and then fell over. Luckily, Gideon caught me before I fell. "As I suspected," The mind mage said quietly.

"Suspected what?" Gideon said furiously. "There is nothing that could give you the grounds to assault a civilian's mind like that!"

"She is no civilian," Jace said coolly. "She is not of this plane, isn't that right, Angell?"

The fact that he suddenly knew my name didn't surprise me in the least. I wonder what else he learned while he was brain- raping me. "No, I'm not," I said, releasing myself from Gideon's arms and standing up strait. "What of it?"

Jace remained silent as he sized me up with his mana-infused gaze. I suddenly found myself avoiding eye contact with him. "Dammit, Jace! If you know something then spill it! We've no time for your secrecy!" Gideon's normally even personality was brought to a boil by Jace's calm indifference.

"Behind the curve as always, Jura," he said slowly. "The white order is really losing it's touch." he looked to me and then said. "It just so happens, that Angell here, is going to save this world."

I was gonna do what now?

"Tell us what you know," Gideon seethed. "That is not a request."

Jace regarded Gideon for a moment before continuing. "There is a legend in this plane; a prophecy you could call it. Every living soul on Terra-Fausta knows it; save for present company."

"Will you just cut to the chase already?" He was really starting to piss me off.

"The legend goes like this," Jace said quietly.

"_After the hero's triumph_

_Two moons will fall._

_One; an angel bearing two towers_

_The other; a saint burdened by darkness._

_The last children of the zenith_

_Will part the world_

_When one has fallen_

_Judgment will follow." _

The small room was silent for a length of time. I ran what Jace just said through my mind; processing it for clues. Needless to say I came up empty.

"Quite the catchy poem, is it not?" Jace hummed.

"When did you come across this information, Beleren?" Gideon fumed.

"Not but a short while ago. I have Angell here to thank for that."

What? Me? How could I have possibly known such a thing? I looked to Gideon, who looked back to me with the same puzzlement. "How did I…" I couldn't find the words.

"I've no further business on this plane," Jace said with finality. "But one last word of advice, child. Do not let old bonds cloud your judgment, when the moment arrives, strike." And without another word, he turned on the spot and disappeared from sight.

I walked slowly to the spot that Jace had occupied not just a few moments ago. I looked to Gideon and said, "So, uh… does he always make such a dramatic exit?"

Gideon's face remained stoic as he said, "Everything he said was true."

I stared at him. "C'mon, what's the punch line?" I said nervously.

"The day after Carnivalium, a child who is not of this plane suddenly appears. Your name is of no coincidence; you bear the two towers."

I always hated the way my name was spelled.

Gideon paced the cell in deep thought. "You cannot stay here. You have a great undertaking ahead of you."

"Yeah, but your little communion might have something to say about that," I countered.

"If it comes to it, I will take you from the city myself."

"But wouldn't that make you an enemy of the government or something?"

Gideon looked to me with a stony intensity. "You are the last child of the white sun's zenith. If your safety means becoming an enemy of the government, so be it."

This was becoming too much. Suddenly I was supposed to some legendary hero? I thought this coming of age destiny crap only happened in animes and stuff? I looked to Gideon and then around the room. I was trapped. I wanted to be out of here. And that's when it came to me. I was a planeswalker! I could pull a Jace and totally teleport out of here! I was almost sorry to do this to Gideon…almost. This was not my world, I didn't belong here. These people would have to find some one else to be their hero.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Standing there in that spot it suddenly occurred to me…I didn't know how to planeswalk. What was I supposed to do? Was it as easy as clicking my heels together and saying 'There's no place like home!' I decided to focus on my destination. I thought of home; I thought of my school; my friends; my mom. I took a step…and ran smack into a brick wall. I found myself on the floor again. Man, I was spending a lot of time on my rear end.

Gideon ran to me. "What was that? Are you alright?"

I looked up to him shakily. "I-I tried to planeswalk, but I got rejected or something."

He helped me to my feet and looked me over. "Perhaps this is just further evidence of the legend. Your place is here." he said.

I looked him in the eye…his deep brown eyes set with conviction. I was still holding his hand from when he helped me off the floor. I found myself unwilling to let go of it. "Okay," I said. "But I have to know one thing. You'll come with me right?"

"It would be an honor to accompany the angel who saves the world," he said honestly.

I guess that was it, we were set. Suddenly the door swung open and a lone figure entered. It was one of Gavis's jailer partners, though I didn't know is name. He bade a hearty salute to Gideon and said, "Sir, the citizens have gathered in the square and are awaiting your audience."

"Thank you. I will be there shortly." Was Gideon's curt reply. The jailer looked up from his salute and left the room, but not without a quick look to me. There was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. It seemed like a mixture of sympathy…and respect. Gideon walked to the door and said, "Let us go."

Gulp.

Gideon lead me on the familiar trip up the stairs and out of the prison's door. We walked along the main street of Lu-Dirra. On my first trip this street was busy, absolutely packed with activity. Now it was completely empty. Every living soul seemingly vanished. Of course I knew everyone was at the communion; there to witness the possible execution of a mage. Yikes.

We waked in silence…literally. The only sound came from our footfalls on the dirt road. We reached the outskirts of the square and I began to hear the hum of humanity; the collective voices of too many people crowded into one place. The crowd parted as we entered the square. Gideon walked boldly with his head held high. I cowered behind him and stared at the ground. This feeling of so many eyes on me; not friendly ones either. I'm sure I knew what all these people were thinking, and it wasn't pretty.

A wooden platform had been erected in the center of the square, obviously the stage for this particular show. Gideon climbed the short stairway and beckoned me to follow. I didn't think I could. My legs refused to work. Knowing this stage could be for my potential execution was too much to bear. Gideon walked back down the stairs and extended his hand to me. "It's alright, I will get you out of this," he whispered. That made me feel better. For about three seconds.

I climbed the stairs onto the platform and found myself staring into the eyes of every soul in Lu-Dirra. It was not a comfortable feeling.

Gideon immediately took charge and walked boldly to the front of the stage. He surveyed the crowd before him and then spoke in a strong clear voice. "Citizens of Lu-Dirra, we have gathered here on this day to debate what shall become of this young girl," he turned to me, as though for emphasis. "She is a newcomer to this city, she goes by the name of Angell."

The effect that simple statement had on the crowd was immense. Every last one of them suddenly dropped to their knees, I have never seen anything like it before. I shuffled up to Gideon. "What's going on?"

"Exactly what I hoped would happen," he answered with a small smile.

An elderly man suddenly rose from the crowd and made his way to the font. From his new position he looked me strait in the eye as he said, "We knew this day would come. The prophecy had told us of angel that would come to this world from parts unknown to deliver us from evil. Creatures of the black order have been slowly gaining power over the last few months. Your amazing display of white mana arts all but solidified the fact that the chosen day is finally upon us." he dropped into a deep bow. "May the zenith grant strength to you and us all."

The crowed erupted into a roar and I fell to my knees. Part of it was relief, the other part was…I'm not too sure what it was. Knowing now that I had the support and admiration of all these people was too much to think about. Gideon turned to me with a broad smile, "I said I would get you out of this," he said. I nodded in stunned, but appreciative silence. "Come, we've much to do." He lead me off the stage and back through the crowd. This time, they did not part the way, everyone closed in on us in a raucous crush of joy. Every person wanted to get a look at me, or touch a piece of my clothing, or shout some blessing or prayer. It was like I had become the president or something.

Once we got to the head of the crowd, they fanned out behind us like an enormous arrow head. Gideon lead the way through the streets with the entire city at our backs. I still couldn't get my head on strait. So much has happened in the last few hours, it still felt like a dream to me. Gideon took a very different route this time, leading me away from the prison compound. The buildings suddenly began to seem much bigger, much more richly crafted. "We'll be staying in my home for the night," Gideon explained. "I'm sure you have tired of that prison cell by now."

"Like you wouldn't believe," I said back. We arrived at a particularly lavish house on the end of the cobbled street and Gideon walked up to the front door. So these were his digs, awesome. He swung open the oak door and stood aside for me. I walked to the doorway but stopped just before entering. I turned to face the mass of humanity that had followed us on this little trip. I knew now that every one of them had their hopes and dreams of this land on me. It was an empowering feeling. I didn't exactly have a speech prepared, so I did what suddenly came to me at the moment. I put my right fist to my heart and tipped the upper half of my body into a deep bow. The crowed went crazy. I bowed once more and finally stepped through the door. The solid oak did nothing to keep out the noise of the overjoyed people.

Gideon put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Quite the feeling, isn't it?" he said. I could only grin in response. "But remember, times won't always be like this. We've many a hardship, and twice as many dangers to face along the path to salvation. Things won't always be easy."

"I understand," I said.

"Come, let us get settled. We will leave in the morning." Gideon lead me through his amazing house, which was pretty much the real multiverse equivalent of my old room. Every inch seemed to hold artifact. Shields, swords, and other weaponry. Magical treasures that I have only seen until now through the trading card game I played at home. One artifact in particular got my attention. "Is that a quicksilver amulet?" I said pointing to a beautifully carved silver pendant with a ruby in it's center.

"Indeed it is," Gideon said. "It was gift from…a friend."

"Whom, may I ask?"

"Come, you will stay in the guest room," Gideon said hurriedly, obviously avoiding the question. I chose not to press and followed him upstairs. Gideon lead me to the end of the thickly carpeted hallway and opened the door there. "Your quarters, my lady," he said smoothly. I stepped onto the room and did a three-sixty. Man it was amazing! The walls were made of solid red oak, the carpet I was standing on was thick enough to sleep on. The large square windows let in the last of the fading sunlight. It was a beautiful place. Too bad I'd only get to spend one night here. "Please, rest well. Our journey begins at daybreak," Gideon said.

I nodded. "Thank you, for everything," I said. Gideon smiled slightly and closed the door. I was alone, in a strange world, and in a strange room. The first thing I did was take a bath. The tub was made of ivory and was absolutely enormous, I could have swam laps in the thing! After I dried off I lay down on the guest bed. It was twice the size of the bed I had at home. Man…I've got to stop comparing thing here to things at home, it was making me miss…home.

I lay down on my side and gazed out of the perfectly bed-leveled window. It was full-on nighttime now and the moon had just begun to crest over the rooftops of the city. I gazed at that moon for longer than I can remember, running everything that had happened through my head that had happened since my arrival here. It was impossible to think that something like this could even exist, or happen to me for that matter. But it wasn't impossible to imagine, that's what magic the gathering had taught me; about worlds and people and adventures on worlds beyond our own. As incredibly terrifying as a quest to save the world from evil sounded, part of me wanted it. Somewhere deep inside, (very deep inside) this felt right to me. I was going to write my own chapter in this worlds history. I liked the feeling.

I didn't remember falling asleep.

…

I had a dream. I saw someone, but the image was kind of hazy; out of focus. It looked like a man. He had his back turned to me and his long untamed hair blew in the wind. He held a blazing magic sword in his right hand. He turned his head halfway around and spoke to me. I couldn't hear the words. And then he began to walk away. I tried to follow, but something was holding me back. I reached out my hand…and then I woke up. Gideon was sitting over me. "It's time for us to go," he said simply. I rose from the bed, all remnants of sleep suddenly gone. "Here, this is for you." Gideon held up a bundle of clothing. I slept in my dress as I had no other clothes to my name. Gideon handed me the clothing and left the room to give me privacy. I slipped my old tunic and skirt off and changed into the new clothing. It was a one- piece cotton dress suited for travel. The material was thick, but it was comfortable. It came to my knees and allotted plenty of room around my legs. It fit and flowed easily. There was even a pair of matching black gloves. I pulled them on and looked myself over in the mirror. I looked like a real mage-adventurer now. I would definitely blend into the culture of Terra-Fausta wearing this.

I exited the room, but not without one last slow look around. This was the home of a planeswalker, I hoped I could see more of them. I climbed down the stairs and found Gideon waiting for me at the front door. "I'm glad the clothing fits you. I actually had to take a guess as to your actual size."

I was glad to know Gideon was such a great judge of girl's figures. I smiled, mostly from nervousness and said, "Okay, let's go."

Gideon stepped aside and allowed me to open the door first. I was hit with an incredible wave of noise that could have easily forced it closed again. The people of Lu-Dirra were gathered in front of the house, just as they were last night. Cheers and blessings went up from each and every one of them. "These are but a small number of the people we are fighting for," Gideon said at my side. "Our quest will be long, with many a trial to endure. But with me and the zenith as our guide, we will prevail."

The zenith. The white sun's zenith. That was our ultimate goal. With it's power, we would be able to smite the rise of the black order and bring peace to all of Terra-Fausta. It was time to get moving.

I lead the way down the stairs and through the joyful riot that was the streets. We were headed for the city gate; leaving this city and into parts unknown. The gate was wide open, leading into a vast green expanse of plains and wilderness. Me and Gideon turned to face the gathered crowd. Many cries of "Good luck!" and "May the zenith grant you strength!" rose from the ranks. It was an absolutely incredible scene. "I won't let them down, Gideon," I said to my planeswalker companion. "I'll find the zenith, and I'll crush the black order, just like I do at home."

"Then let us depart. We've a long journey ahead," he said back.

Me and Gideon bade one last salute to the people of Lu-Dirra, and left the city with the roar of hopeful support ringing in our ears.

So this was it. My new reality. I was prepared. I was drawn to magic the gathering for a reason, and this was why. I was destined to become great. I knew there was nothing ahead that I couldn't handle, I knew every spell and creature that could possibly come my way. This was magic the gathering…for real.

It all begins from here.

*End of Chapter 3*

-A/N

So far so good. I'll try to keep updating on a weekly basis. Thank you guys who have shown interest in my story and were kind enough to leave a positive review. Your words give me the confidence to keep this going.


	4. Chapter 4

*Chapter 4*

"Go for the throat!" A fierce apparition arose from the fog that lay thickly over the swamp. It was vaguely human in appearance. It wrapped itself around the body of the targeted ghoul and slashed it's throat with it's razor-sharp talons. The little horror was dead before it could even scream. That must have been the hundredth ghoul he had destroyed… and yet Saints was still surrounded.

What seemed to be more warpath ghouls than he can count closed in on him. Saints cast every spell that he could think of for his protection. Black magic spells were all about destruction, yet he couldn't seem to destroy every last one; they just kept coming. Of course, by this point, he had stopped thinking this was strange at all. After waking up in this swamp in the middle of no one knows where, holding a mental conversation with a legendary praetor, and being assaulted by hundreds of ugly little ghouls, his brain didn't quite have the time to process the word 'strange' anymore.

It was then that Saints came to a conclusion, in order to end this, he'd have to destroy all of these things at once. Saints took a step back, careful to keep every one of these creatures in his line of sight, which wasn't hard, the ghouls formed a tight-nit pack around him, blocking off any chance of escape. Saints focused his will and began drawing upon the death-bringing black mana that he had become oh-so familiar with. A cold chill of excited power ran through his being as black mana accelerated throughout his body. He raised his hand…and the ghouls at once dissipated. They scurried away in any conceivable direction they could, whimpering and howling in terror. Saints let the tension melt out of his body. The sudden rush of adrenaline and unused mana left him feeling somewhat deflated.

Of course he also realized that something had spooked the ghouls…and it wasn't him. Again he found himself doing slow three-sixties around this dark and deathly place. He saw nothing that frightened him; but instead; he felt it. Something big was on approach. A power source that was beyond measure. It tugged at Saint's brain and caused his neck hairs to stand on end. And finally after what seemed a tortured eternity, a vision met his eyes that matched his mental terror.

A figure had appeared at the very edge of the swamp, just outside of visual range. Even with his newly remarkable nocturnal eyesight, Saints could not make out any distinctions as to this figures identity. The figure appeared to be moving…slowly. Taking deliberately measured steps, leaving Saints to ponder an agonizingly drawn-out decision. Should he run? Should he stay and see what was on approach? These questions and more raced through his fear-clouded brain. Then, at last, the figure drew close enough for recognition. It was a woman. A beautiful woman. A woman who only until now, Saints was sure didn't actually exist. She was scantily clothed, but cleverly so. Showing only enough of her smooth white skin to entice her onlooker to scan deeper, for a promise that was not there. Her revealing gown was deep purple and shaped more like a corset than an actual dress. Her steps were slow and easy; she was in no rush. Casting a look down her thigh-length boots to her feet, Saints was startled to learn that she was walking _atop_ the murky ankle-deep water, rather than through it. She stopped now, just a few spans away from Saints. He was hypnotized by the woman's cold, unblinking, and somewhat sexual stare. She parted her lips as she drew breath to speak, seeming to take what little warmth that was in the air with it, and said, "I've been waiting for you."

Saints couldn't seem to move his body. His brain had stopped functioning at this point. Here in front of him was someone who didn't make any sense, someone who everyone he knew, _knew _did not really exist. And yet, here she was in the middle of this swamp, staring him dead in the eye.

He was staring at Liliana Vess.

"Whatever is the matter?" The planeswalker cooed, taking a few steps towards Saints. "You don't look at all happy to see me."

"I'm not sure what I should be feeling right now." Those words seemed to be forever in the making for Saints.

"You should be feeling very grateful about now," Liliana purred. She ran the index finger of her elegantly gloved hand up Saint's chest and under his chin, pointing his face towards hers. "For it is you that will rid this world of those that oppose us."

"I don't understand," was all Saints could muster.

"You have been chosen by the black sun's zenith. You have a rightful destiny to fulfill to become the new ruler of this world."

"No I mean, I don't understand what's going on here!" Saints tore away from Liliana's entrancing gaze and stumbled backwards. "Just what the hell is this! A dream? I went to bed last night at home like usual, and suddenly I end up…here?" he did a few sweeps of the area with startled eyes, but nothing had changed. The dense swamp fog still lingered everywhere, he was still cold and soaking wet, and seemingly worst of all, Liliana was still there. "Time to find the wake up button, 'cause this dream's over."

"This is no dream," Liliana said. Saints noticed an alarming change in her polarity, and her appearance. Her silky black hair began to take on streaks of white. Her once lovely skin was marked over with ugly black lines, as though the essence of pure black mana suddenly infused her veins. Her eyes faded from piercing icy blue, to a glowing lifeless white. She was in full-on necromancer mode. This was the real Liliana Vess. And she was not happy. "I have waited over a hundred years for the chosen of the zenith to show themselves and all I get is an ungrateful child! Why, I always thought, hadn't the zenith chose me? Surely I am a worthy enough candidate!" Liliana loomed over Saints at this point. The very air around her seemed frigid and lifeless. "I will tolerate you because you are special. But make no mistake, if you are not up to the task I will simply kill you myself and take your place as successor."

Saints answered more calmly than the situation warranted, "Sure, you got it lady."

And then, with no discernable time lapse that Saints could detect, Liliana had transformed into her beautiful youthful guise, and her temptress persona was restored along with it. "And now that we finally see eye to eye, It's time we departed."

"Depart? To where?"

"To my home of course," Liliana answered. "Wouldn't you just love to see my glorious inner sanctum?" she purred silkily. She was working her magic again. The mana-less kind. Saints was positive she could make any man she wanted follow her to the depths of hell.

Saints stood on the spot and tried to string his thoughts together. Just what the hell was going on? How did he get here? Where was here? When was here? It seemed a lifetime ago that he was home playing magic the gathering with Angell, gearing up for the Friday night tournament. He wanted to be anywhere but here, he wanted to go home. But was home even a possibility now? Was he ever really in his true home, living all those years on earth? Question after question raced through his mind, none of which he could even fathom an answer for. He looked up again at the planeswalker in his direct vision. He knew this woman, as far as you could know a fictional character. She was the star of his deck; a well timed Liliana always made his opponents sweat. He called upon her for help in all his battles, now the role was reversed. Apparently she knew of some grand purpose he was to fulfill; he didn't. He needed answers. And the only way he was to get them, was to follow Liliana. "Alright, take me."

Liliana walked slowly up to Saints and slid her arms around his neck, drawing his face close to her breasts and neckline. Saints could feel a suddenly desperate urge rising through his body in the form of startled lustful heat. Was she always pulsing with this kind of sex drive? Or was it something that she specialized in drawing out of men? She looked Saints in the eye with her icy blues and said, "Our destiny begins now." And they both vanished from the spot. Leaving the swamp silent and empty.

…

A short and breathless journey later, Saints and Liliana had materialized on the threshold of a very ancient, and very abandoned castle. Saints staggered slightly as he tried to get his bearings back. The sudden teleportation left his head feeling blood-rushed and swimmy. "Hey," he said, gaining control of himself, "Was that a planeswalk?"

"A very local one, yes," was Liliana's response. She walked right past Saints and continued up a series of crumbling stone stairs to the castle's looming wooden doors. Saints looked up to the enormous and once impressive structure. It was clear that no one had been here in quite some time. The huge building was faded, crumbling, and had the look of all-round neglect. The grass and trees surrounding the structure were overgrown and seemed to be growing _into_ the structure itself. This was the place Liliana called home. She had reached the top of the stairs and called out to Saints. "Come!"

Saints obeyed and climbed the stairs after her. "I take it you're not going to tell me where _this_ is either?" He motioned his head upwards at the abandoned castle for emphasis.

"This is my home," Liliana said. "And for as long as we are together, it will be your home as well."

"Great…"

Liliana snapped her fingers and the towering wooden doors slowly swung open with a moaning creak. Liliana stepped through before they were fully open, Saints followed and was met with an amazing sight. Despite the dilapidated appearance of the castle's exterior, the interior was absolutely immaculate. The ceiling soared farther than Saints could even see. The entrance hall was illuminated by hundreds of blazing torches, casting dancing orange light everywhere. But most striking of all, standing in two long rows of ten, was the congregation of what appeared to be the castle's female servants. Casting a look at their pale skin and claw-like fingernails, Saints knew right away that these were vampiresses.

"The chosen is finally upon us," Liliana said to the room. "We've much to see to in his preparation."

At this, a vampiress stepped from the line and slowly approached Saints. Though all the vampiresses were attractive, this one held a particular command to Saints. She always had.

In his world she was called 'Bloodthrone vampire' but Saints was sure she had a real name. She stood right in front of him now. Given that, until now, Saints had only ever known her as an artwork on a piece of cardboard, it struck him at just how tall she was. He had to look up just to meet her eyes…her deep-set…penetrating crimson eyes. Saints had always kept her card safe; in a sleeve on his bedside table, just so he could stare at her before he went to sleep. He always felt foolish having a crush on a fictional character, but suddenly, that didn't matter anymore.

"So this is the child we've waited oh-so long for," she said. Her voice was amazingly deep and velvety, Saints was sure she was adept at controlling people with just the sound of it alone. She ran the claw of her index finger gently down his neck, "I love his skin…so dark." She ran her tongue lustfully across her forefangs. Saints felt his heart skip a beat, for more than one reason.

"He is not to be your meal; but your guest." Liliana said. She cast a look to the vampiress servants and they immediately set to their task. All twenty of them closed in on Saints and led him gently across the hall to a large stone door. "Hey, where the hell are you taking me?"

"Please, relax," one of the vampiresses said in his ear. "you are a guest of the mistress, you shall be treated like royalty as long as you are here." The door was opened and Saints was lead inside. Saints was relieved to find he wasn't being lead to a dungeon, but rather an enormous washroom. The room was ornately decorated; the floor was marble and the walls were of gilded ivory. In the center of the room, sunken into the floor, was a huge pool.

"Nice," Saints said.

"Oh, it's about to get a whole lot better," said the Bloodthrone vampire. She had seated herself in the corner of the room on a golden chair, a look of immense pleasure on her face. And then before Saints knew what was happening, the vampiresses had closed in on him…and began to strip him down.

"Whoa! Wait a second!" in no time Saints was completely naked. Standing in among giggles and whispers from the vampiresses. "What the hell!" Saints made a lame attempt to cover his manhood.

"This is a washroom, is it not? Said the amused Bloodthrone, "How would you expect to bathe if you are fully clothed?"

"Whatever. Do what you will."

What followed was the most thorough bath Saints had ever had, which was to be expected, when twenty pairs of hands were scrubbing you all over. He was dried and given fresh dry clothes to wear. Which pretty much resembled what he was wearing when he first arrived…wherever this was. Afterwards, he was lead back to the entrance hall and up an enormous carpeted staircase. After walking down several wide corridors, they came upon a set of oaken double doors. One of the servants knocked gently three times and they swung open. Saints entered the huge dark room and saw Liliana standing on the other side, just in front of a window that happened to be the rear wall. "Leave us." she said, as though she could sense exactly who had just entered. The vampiresses bowed their way out of Liliana's presence and allowed the doors to close behind them. The room now stood deadly silent, the only source of light came from the enormous wall-window, which cast Liliana's silhouette across the room.

Saints walked slowly across the room, each footfall seeming to cause an explosion in the silent room. When at last he joined Liliana at the window, he said to her, "So, what now?"

"You are new to this world, very new. And so you must be educated."

"In…"

"Everything, boy," Liliana said impatiently. "Now listen; there is much for you to know."

And she imparted all the knowledge she had of this plane unto Saints. He learned the history of Terra-Fausta; it's people, it's places, and it's three major ruling cities. He learned of the illuminati and their mission to conquer Terra- Fausta, he learned of Sabaton who rose up to defeat them. And most importantly, he learned of the legend. The falling of the two moons, and the last children of the black and white sun's zenith. All of this took hours to properly tell, and afterwards, Saints felt more than a little brain-rushed. So he was the last child of the black sun's zenith. He wondered just how any of this was possible. What did any of it mean, and more over, why him? Who wrote the grand rulebook on who was to be chosen by and _for_ anything?

If anything made sense to him at that moment, it was the fact that now, beyond any reasonable doubt, the dreams he had of the multiverse were real. Or maybe they were more than dreams, maybe his love of magic the gathering was a form of training for this moment; for this quest. After hours of voiceless silence, Saints finally turned to Liliana and expressed what had been on his mind since his arrival here. "I can't go home, can I?"

For a moment, Liliana's face was blank. Then she wound back and slapped Saints across the face. "You are the chosen of the black sun's zenith!" she spat, "Whatever world you came from you should just forget about, this is your place now. I will not tolerate any form of weakness from you!" Saints was still reeling from the blow. That slap had served as a reality shock; this was no dream. "Now you will learn the ways of the black mana arts," Liliana said coldly. "You best ready yourself; 'less you want to die learning what I will be teaching you."

And from there, and over the course of the next several days, Saints learned how to harness the destructive power of black mana. He was first taught to call upon the bond he had unwittingly formed with the swamp he had originally arrived in. Then he was taught to conjure creatures; specters; vampires; zombies. And each time he failed, Liliana cast a pain curse upon him. She was without mercy. Every failure was met with punishment, each more severe than the last. Saints was sure at one point that she all set to kill him.

"Get up!" she commanded.

Saint's body was screaming with pain, brought on by the spell Liliana had repeatedly cast upon him. He stood up slowly, unable to focus his vision. "Hold on…please…"

"Wring flesh!" Liliana shouted. Saints doubled over screaming in agony. "You hesitate, why?" She approached Saints slowly, her hands raised to perform the spell again.

Then, from the bottom of his being, Saints made a decision. He had enough of this. If he didn't want pain, he'd have to fight back. He had the mana; he had the spells; he knew what to do. He rose to his feet. He raised his head and gave Liliana a look that actually gave her pause. His eyes had turned black; blacker than the night itself. "Plague stinger!" an insect horror appeared at his side, hovering in the air with it's small leathery wings. "Reaper of Sheoldred!" an unspeakable abomination of a creature appeared. It's long scythe of an arm dripping with toxin.

"Hmm… you are learning," Liliana said, impressed.

"Who said I'm done?" Saints growled. It was time for payback. He raised his arm and pointed at Liliana. "Grim affliction!" Liliana recoiled as an huge ugly black mark appeared on the side of her face. Saints snapped his fingers and a second mark appeared on her neck.

"Enough!" Liliana waved her hand and Saint's monsters were instantly destroyed. He had his moment, but he was still no match for a full-fledged planeswalker. "The training has gone well. And now it is time for the final step."

Saints held eye contact with Liliana for a long moment, and then, at that moment, he knew what to do. He walked slowly to the center of the dark room that was used as his training ground. He focused his will as he began to gather black mana. Dark energy swirled around him as his power intensified. And then he cast his spell. "Dark Favor!" Shadows raced from every corner of the room, binding Saints in a dark cocoon. He was lost from sight entirely as he was completely engulfed in the swimming darkness. And then, the shadows began to take on shape. They molded to his body, and as quickly as they came, they vanished, absorbed into their caster. Saints now stood silently I the center of the room, the shadows having seemingly formed a long and dark cloak for him.

Liliana approached him as he took off his heavy hood. The eyes of the once lost boy were gone, replaced by the cold stare of a death-harnessing black mage. "And now," she said, cradling his face in her gloved hands, "We can begin." Her attention was sudden taken by a new entrant to the room. It was a small black cat. She padded silently up to Liliana and stared into her eyes for a brief moment. Liliana stared back and then said, "Excellent!" Apparently, whatever telepathic news the cat had brought her had been satisfactory. Saints looked to her in question. "Gideon Jura and his little…_pet_ have been seen on their way to Lu-Perral. What better introduction than to have you serve as their welcoming committee."

"I understand," Saints said slowly. He raised his hood and took a step forward into eternity. He had vanished from the room. "And now," Liliana said to her black cat companion," Things should get very interesting."

…

A young woman of no more than eighteen was walking quickly through the square. She really did not want to work the last shift at the general store, but there was no one else available to do so. So there was nothing left but to rush home through the darkened streets. She smiled a little to herself as she thought of the husband she had waiting at home for her. The man she had married not but two weeks ago. She picked up her pace as the memory of his being seeped into her body.

It was then that she noticed a lone figure in the square. The figure's dark cloak seemed to hide their person entirely, making them appear to be no more than a shadow ready to melt into the night.

"You, girl!" The person said.

The young lady identified a rough male voice coming from the cloak. "Um...yes," she squeaked.

"Tell me, is this Lu-Perral?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Thank you," the cloaked figure said. Then he raised his arm and pointed a finger at the girl. "Deathmark." The girl's head recoiled backwards and she fell over with a thud to the cobblestones. She was dead before she hit the ground. "Now to liven things up a little."

And in mere moments, there was chaos. City folk fled in terror as fire consumed their homes, burning brighter than the dawn itself. Horrible creatures of the night, summoned by this lone figure killed whoever was unfortunate enough to be in their reach. The cloaked man laughed silently to himself as he admired his work.

"You there, stop!" A feminine voice rang clear throughout the bedlam. The hooded man turned towards it's owner, and saw someone…someone…who he used to know. A strange feeling rose within him; a memory. He stared at this girl, wearing a white traveling cloak and black boots. He looked to her shoulder-length and somewhat coarse red-brown hair; her clear green eyes and olive-toned skin. He knew this girl…but how?

"You're responsible for this, aren't you?" The girl said. "Show your face, cowardly bane, and face the punishment of the white order!" The air around the girl swirled as she began to harness white mana. The man slowly raised his hand and even more slowly, removed his hood. Instantly, the girl's mana flow went dead. All the fight left her body as she stared at the sight before her in utter disbelief. "No…no…it can't be…" she fell to her knees as tears blurred her eyes. "How…this…this can't be…"

Saints had no words of comfort or explanation for this girl he once knew. He simply turned his back, and melted away into the flames.

*End of chapter 4*


	5. Chapter 5

*Chapter 5*

The gates of Lu-Dirra were behind us. Nothing but endless unmarked plains stretched before us. Looking out on the wilderness of flatlands, a wonderful excitement began to swim through my veins. I wanted to explore every last inch of this landscape. It was then that Gideon laid out our itinerary, "As of now, our objective is Lu-Perral, the second of the three ruling cities. But it is more than a two day's ride from here. So we will sojourn in the town of Trissta, which is about halfway to our destination."

I nodded; the plan sounded solid. But then a thought hit me, "A two day's ride from here? But, Gideon, we have no mounts!" Gideon looked sideways at me. A matter of slightly raised eyebrows and a small smile told me to stop being foolish. "Oh…right." I took a small step forward. I surveyed the landscape again. Plains. My kind of land; harnessing mana would not be a problem. I focused my thoughts on exactly what we needed at that moment; transportation. White mana ran through my body and I shouted, "Armored Warhorse!" In a small flash of white light appeared a magnificently armored stallion. I had summoned this creature using my will focused through the land's mana. It was amazing that I was already used to doing it.

Gideon mounted up beside me on his own steed and said to me, "Shall we?" I took a small moment to admire how stunning and impressive Gideon looked while mounted on his powerful steed; his hair being blown just askew by a slight breeze.

Another little flutter in my stomach.

I turned to my own stallion and was suddenly hit with a terrible thought. Never, not once in my seventeen years of life, have I ever mounted a horse. Horses were a little hard to come by in the suburbs of Cape May, New Jersey. But then I remember, that was my old life; a practice one. I was never meant to live on earth forever. If casting spells and summoning creatures were second nature to me, then maybe riding a horse wasn't far behind. Before I thought too much about it, I grabbed the saddle horn, secured my right foot in the stirrup, and effortlessly swung myself up and over the saddle. Piece of cake. "Like riding a bike," I said.

"What is a bike?" Gideon asked me.

"A small self-propelled vehicle we use on earth. Whenever something comes easy to you, you akin it to riding a bike, because once you learn, you never forget. Or you never forget that you learned…or that you already knew…or whatever." I patted my horses neck and a shiver of appreciation ran through his muscles.

Gideon nodded in fascination, and then at length snapped himself out of the mesmerizing spell of earthly bicycles and said, "Well, Trissta is not going to come to us." I nodded and took up my horse's reins. Suddenly another wave of excitement hit me. Staring down my horses neck and out onto the wild plains before me, I realized just how familiar this felt to me. I can't explain it, but this just felt natural somehow, as though I've done this time and time again. I gave myself over to this natural excitement and snapped the reins.

And then I was flying over the countryside. The wind snapped my hair back and stung my eyes, blurring then with joyful tears. I bounced easily with the saddle; the rhythmic thunderous hoof falls of my steed echoed in my ears as I urged him on faster and faster. This is what it felt like; absolute freedom. Gideon rode up next to me, easily matching my pace. He grabbed the reins from me and reined us both in. After coming to a stop I looked to him surprised and just a tad bit upset. "Why did you stop me?" I didn't bother hiding the agitation in my voice.

Gideon nodded his head to the west and said calmly, "Trissta is _that_ way."

"Oh…" At Gideon's lead we fell into a brisk pace that he felt both we and our horses could manage for a good while. I took in every last bit of the scenery I could. The majesty of these rolling plains was truly a sight to behold. Out in the distance I could see towering mountains that scrapped the clouds. Further east I saw dense and beautiful forests. It was a feast for the senses, and I didn't want to miss a thing.

A few hours later we stopped to water our horses at a freshwater stream that so happened to run through a field. I sat down on the soft grass at the water's edge, took off my boots and soaked my feet in the cool water. 'What an amazing place' I thought. Gideon appeared next to me and offered me a water skin. I took a good long drink of warm but refreshing water and sighed with content. Then, all too soon, it was time to hit the trail again. I was ready to go but something stopped me. Something urgent. Something that needed to be taken care of _right now_. "Um…I have to…uh…you know." I waffled back and forth on the spot. Maybe all that water wasn't a good idea.

Gideon chuckled and nodded to a small patch of forest. Of course. I walked over to the mash of greenery and walked a good ways in to be sure to conceal myself. I chose a sizable bush, rolled up my skirt, squatted down, and conducted my business. Needless to say, the modern convenience of toilet paper was unavailable. Having finished, I stood up and made my way out of the forest when a small movement caught my eye. There was the rustle of underbrush and then there appeared a small black cat. It's intense yellow eyes were fixed solidly on me, as though it were trying to memorize what I looked like. Was I mistaken, or had I seen this cat before somewhere? Of course I realized that there are probably thousands of black cats wandering this plane, I was bound to run into a few. So I continued my way out of the forest and returned to

Gideon.

We mounted up and continued our trip to Trissta. Along the way I began to notice small groups of houses over the plains. They weren't large by any means, but there were quite a few of them. Their occupants could be seen sitting on their porches just enjoying the sunny afternoon. Some worked the fields behind their small dwellings. As we rode, they bade us friendly waves and greetings. We returned them with waves and smiles of our own. Then just a little further in the distance, I could make out the beginning of a true village. It stretched out before us for what must have been more than a dozen square miles. Smoke rose from numerous chimneys for heat or cooking. And sounds of life came from every dwelling. The laughter of children, the sounds of adults hard at work, livestock being lead through the streets. This village was alive.

We dismounted at the edge of town and I looked around for a hitching post. Upon finding none, I looked to Gideon. "So where do we…" I held the reins up for emphasis. He gave me the same look that he did when we started this trip. "Oh, yeah…" I took a step back and stared at my horse. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and then waved them wide. The horse vanished, returned to whatever fold of reality it had originally come from. We entered the village gates and I was met with the sights and sounds of a small, but thriving community. Gideon explained that this village of Trissta was often host to a number of travelers, on their way to or from Lu-Dirra. He told me that Trissta was an old word roughly meaning 'To be welcomed' which made sense, because we received a pretty warm reception.

People of all ages and walks of life seemed to make it a personal point to bid us a greeting of some sort. With Gideon Jura being…Gideon Jura, it came as no surprise to see the admiration in people's eyes as he passed.

But mine was another case entirely.

Upon seeing me for the first time, People's eyes went wide, and then they immediately dropped to their knees. In a matter of moments, it seemed that the whole village was at me feet. Needless to say, I still wasn't used to, and never would be, this kind of treatment. I stood gracious and breathless as the townsfolk lined the sides of the street, all on their knees, forming a living corridor of wondrous admiration. These people already knew who I was, and yet, I didn't know any of their names. I felt tears well up in my eyes at the thought of every living person in this village having the hope of the land on me. It was moving, humbling, and empowering.

Gideon gave me a small smile and beckoned for me to take the lead. I took a tentative step forward, making sure to not trip over my own feet in the process. Then another, then another. As I passed each person, I was sure to look them in the eye. I saw many things; tears, joy, wonder, longing, and most prominent of all, hope. A young girl rushed out of line and scurried up to me. She handed me a beautiful red flower and said in her small voice, "Good luck to you! May the Zenith grant you strength!"

I was on the verge of tears again. "Thank you," I said. I turned to face the kneeling crowd and addressed every one of them. "Thank you all for your unwavering support. I swear, in the name of the white order, I will see the darkness forever gone from this land!" I raised the flower above my head as though it were a triumphant weapon. The townsfolk burst into a rabble of joyous noise that, yet again, brought tears to my eyes. Gideon clapped a hand on my shoulder and nodded in approval. We continued our way through the village amongst the overjoyed townsfolk, until we reached the door of the village inn. We made our way inside, not without one last salute to the townsfolk, and check into our rooms. The innkeeper was more than glad to accommodate us for no charge.

Upon settling our things, Gideon told me he was going out to town to gather supplies and rations for the next leg of our journey. I of course, wanted to go with him. He placed his hands gently on my shoulders, "You should rest up while you can. The opportunities may be few and far between," he said. I stared at my feet so he couldn't see my cheeks burning as I nodded in agreement. Gideon took off to town and I decided to take a nap. I took off my boots and lay on the bed. The mattress was stuffed with what felt like straw; some of the fibers poked through the burlap, sticking me in odd places, but it was comfortable enough. And soon, I was asleep.

I had the same dream again. A hazy vision of a man with wild hair. In his hand was a magic sword, it's blade burning with fierce mana. He turned his head and spoke to me. Normally the words were silent, unintelligible. But one word rang through, "Beloved" and then Gideon was gently shaking me awake. "We should get going soon," he said.

I cast a look out of the room's single window, and saw the orange tinted horizon that told of night's coming. "But it's nearly nightfall," I say in objection.

"All the better to begin travel now. That way, we are sure to arrive in Lu-Perral by morning at least."

Another solid argument by Gideon. I pulled my traveling boots on again and jumped from the bed ."Let us go," I said. We made our way down the wooden stairs and exited the inn and took to the dirt roads of town. I noticed a large burlap sack slung across Gideon's shoulder; our supplies. In seems that, in the few hours that I was asleep, none of Trissta's residents were interested in retiring for the night. They were all as busy as they were when we initially arrived. Their joyous energy had not ebbed one bit since their welcoming me here, and they were just as intent to give a equally memorable see off. Just as was the case in Lu-Dirra, the townsfolk here escorted me and Gideon to the village gate. We turned to the people and gave our final goodbyes. I took a moment to drink this scene in. The citizens ranting and cheering; the orange sky of dusk behind them; Gideon Jura at my side. All of these things made me more determined than ever to liberate this plane of Terra-Fausta from the approaching darkness.

I cast my warhorse spell again, and in no time me and Gideon were trotting over the plains. Our clip was much more measured than before, as the night sky finally settled over the world. I followed Gideon's easy lead and soon we had left the village of Trissta behind. Our next stop, Lu-Perral. After a few hours of travel, though it was not in me to complain, my rear was starting to get sore. Gideon must have sensed my discomfort, for he reined in, took a survey of our surrounding land, and proclaimed we camp here for the night. I gladly dismounted and walked a few slow circles to get the blood moving back there again. Gideon took to a small thicket of woods and came back with a great bundle of kindling. He set the branches in a small circle of stones that I had gathered and sighed mightily. "Here's wishing I had a few red mana arts to my name," he said.

"Yeah, this fire would be going in no time!" I chirped.

So Gideon set to the task of getting our fire started. With much friction of two solid sticks rubbing together, we got an ember, with a little coaxing, that soon turned into a healthy blaze. Gideon withdrew our meal from the burlap sack he brought from the village. Each portion was individually wrapped in clean white cloth. He produced two blocks of yellow cheese, two servings of bread, and a large chunk of an unfamiliar meat which he skewered, and set on the fire to cook. Just a little later it was ready to eat. We ate our campfire meal as Gideon told me the tale of how the plane of Terra-Fausta was born.

Long before there was life of any kind here in this land, two great beings descended. They were both angels, one of the light and one of the dark. The light angel's name was Terra Stella. The dark angels' name was Fausta Deus. Though they were opposite in beliefs and morals, they had always coexisted in harmony, both knowing that without one, the other could not exist. This new and uninhabited land Terra wanted to turn into a new utopia for humankind. Convinced that humans could live long judicious lives under the guidance of the pure. Fausta, though she loved her companion dearly, told Terra that such a world was not possible to achieve. Were men free of vices, they would make no morale progress. With no wrong to weigh against right, the fabric of human nature would never be truly challenged, thus taking away man's right to freely choose his path. Be it saintly or sinful. So the Angels Terra and Fausta both sculpted the land with both of their particular visions in mind. Terra created men and women of righteous hearts. Implanted in their minds the true conviction of justice and peace, and the might to uphold it. Fausta created men and women of devious intent. While not necessarily evil, they were created with the will to stray away from the path of the righteous. These two factions balanced the plane of existence. Neither supreme good nor supreme evil reigned. The will of the two angels has been carried out to this day. Every child ever born was infused with the will of one of these divine beings.

And that was the tale of Terra-Fausta.

"Amazing…" I said breathlessly. Gideon again suggested that I get some sleep as he volunteered to take watch. I lay down on a bed of rough blankets and stared up at the moon as it traveled across the night sky. Again I found myself contemplating everything that had happened here in this new phase of my life. How was it that me, a random unremarkable teenager from North America, could wind up here, in a place that no one thought even existed? But here I was, smack dab in the middle of the multiverse, all poised to fight against evil. I was the last child of the white sun's zenith, the future savior of this world. I thought of my best friend, Saints. He would have a few pithy words to say to that. 'You a savior? You couldn't _save_ me the last slice of pizza, and you're going to save the world? Guess I better come with ya, somebody has to watch your back.' That's what he'd say to me. As I lay on the plains watching the moon, I knew I'd give anything to see his face again, just one last time. With Saints the last thing on my mind, I fell asleep.

I had the same dream again. The man holding the magic sword. He turned his head and spoke to me, as always. Normally his words were inaudible, but a few filtered through. "Beloved…Angell." he began to walk away and I tried to follow, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached out my arm…and Gideon shook me awake. When I came to I realized that my right arm was actually outstretched, as though I were truly reaching for the figure in my dream. Did Gideon wake me because he thought I was having a nightmare? "We have to get moving, now." he said this calmly, but with a firmly conveyed sense of urgency. I stood up and saw out to the west that the sun had just begin to tint the horizon that golden orange hue that signified daybreak. Wait a minute…the sun didn't rise from the west…what could that light be?

Then it hit me.

"Oh my God. Gideon…"

"Let's move, now!" The calm was gone, replaced by the severity of realization. We jumped on our horses and rode as hard as we could towards the light. As we crested the final bluff, a sight met our eyes that confirmed our fears.

Lu-Perral was on fire.

We pressed on right up to the city, not daring to slow our pace until we burst through the gates. City folk and fire we everywhere. We dismounted and came face to face with a group of panicked civilians. "'Tis an attack of the black order, my lord!" one of them finally calmed down enough to say to Gideon. Gideon's Surral was in his hands before the man finished speaking.

"Everyone flee the city now!" Gideon ordered. "Do not go back for anything! Any valuables you may have left behind, forget about. Your lives are your most valuable possession as of now!" The group of civilians nodded as they followed Gideon's orders and left through the city gates. Gideon immediately took charge of Lu-Perral's peacekeeping unit. They were to sweep the city and get any potential survivors to safety.

"Gideon, I think we should split up to cover more ground!" I said. Gideon immediately objected, not wanting me to leave his sight. I looked him full in the eye. "We're wasting time here! I'll be fine, I'll get any and everyone I can to safety, including myself! Now go!" and without any further words of objection, I took off through a nearby alley. The city was a mess. Burning shells of buildings were all around me. Thick smoked billowed and wafted through the streets, along with the panicked city folk. I called to them as I waved my arms signifying a safe passage. I told the best route to take out of the city as I plunged deeper through the burning streets.

Over the chaos I could suddenly hear crying. I saw a young girl of maybe six or seven in front of a large house untouched by the fire. She was crying for her mother. I ran to her as fast as I could.

I wasn't fast enough.

From the door of the house burst a horrifying creature. It stood on three spindled legs and had a long crooked scythe-like arm coated with noxious poison. The monster ran it's arm through the girls abdomen. The girl's cries stopped instantly. Something similar to shock or disbelief registered on her face. She saw me now, and I swear I saw a new look form on her face. It was…peace. She even managed a small smile at me in her last dying moments. I couldn't take it. The creature flung the girl aside and charged at me. "Rebuke!" the white spell hit it's mark and the creature was instantly vaporized. I wanted to go to the girl, to maybe, possibly comfort her somehow. But the last thing I needed was for an emotional farewell of someone I didn't know to cloud my judgment. I vowed to myself that her death would not go unanswered.

I pressed on into the city center and almost came to a stop. A sudden feeling tickled my brain, a very familiar feeling. I felt it before, when Jace suddenly appeared in my prison cell. I was approaching another planeswalker. I ran to the cobbled center and saw someone. A lone figure in the square. This person was wearing a long dark cloak, and seemed to be remarkably calm despite the turmoil of the burning city. The intensity of this person's aura was immense. And I recognized something else too. It was cold, dark, and lifeless. This was a black mage.

"You there, stop!" I called out. The figure turned to me slowly. I couldn't see their eyes as their hood hid all of their features. "You're responsible for this aren't you? Show your face cowardly bane, and face the punishment of the white order!" I began charging white mana as the figure slowly, very slowly, raised their hand, and removed their hood.

And then time stopped.

This couldn't be right. I couldn't be seeing this. There was no possible way. "No…it can't be…" I fell to my knees as tears fell from my eyes. "How…" The impossible fact was staring me in the face, yet I refused to accept it. I simply couldn't. I was staring onto the face of my best friend, Saints. He stared at me for a moment with eyes hollowed out as though by death. Then slowly, he turned his back and melted away into the burning city.

I was too stunned to stop him.

*End of Chapter 5*


	6. Chapter 6

*Chapter 6*

"C'mon lazy girl, we gonna be late!" An agitated and familiar voice stirred me from my sleep. From my comfy position on the couch I could see my best friend's face suspended over mine.

I rose slowly and then I suddenly remembered his reason for being here. "Oh, crap, what time is it?" I powered on my Motorola Photon and checked the clock. "Six-thirty!" I cried. The Friday night magic tournament started at seven! "Mom, why didn't you wake me like I asked you to?"

"Oh, believe me. I tried. You're such a heavy sleeper," My mom said, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"Good evening, Mrs. Cameron. You look lovely, as usual." Saints was always doing that; flirting with my mom.

"What did I tell you about that, young man?" she said back, waving her spatula threateningly at Saints, but with a huge smile on her face.

"C'mon, Angell, let's go. You don't wanna first round loss do ya?" Saints waved his arms furiously. I cast an annoyed look at him. Saints was African- American and was about a head taller than I was. His normally afro style hair was shaved down at the sides, leaving only a singular stripe of hair that was his Mohawk. It looked pretty good on him. He tapped his black Nikes impatiently. "Move it!" he said.

I dashed up the stairs to my room to get dressed. I pulled on my broken-in blue jeans, a white blouse, and my favorite pink timberlands. I grabbed my playmat and deck from atop my dresser and crammed them unceremoniously into my gaming bag. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I flew down the stairs and was ready to go. Saints already had the front door open and was waving for me to get going. "Bye mom, love you!" I kissed her on the cheek and rushed to the door. I was all set to step out when someone clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Mom, what is…" It wasn't my mom who had stopped me.

It was Gideon Jura.

"Angell, wake up!"

Nothing about this made sense. Why in the hell was Gideon Jura talking to me? Was I losin' it? And why was he telling me to wake up, wasn't I already awake? Then, suddenly his image began to radiate heat; lots of it. It was as though he had conducted some invisible fire. I needed to be away from him, the heat was threatening to overcome me. And then I saw my house was on fire. Everything was burning, no matter where I turned; I couldn't get away. Gideon grabbed my shoulders and shook me even harder, "Come back, now!"

I looked to his face now, set amongst burning buildings and the night sky. The memory came back to me. I wasn't home. I was in Lu-Perral, and we were being attacked by the black order. There was a sound. I couldn't tell what it was, I had never heard such a thing in my life, but I knew it wasn't natural. A creature of the black order appeared before us. I recognized it, it was the same creature that killed the little girl. The reaper of Sheoldred.

Though I was in danger, I was still too numb to act. I could barely focus on what was happening in front of me. That's when Gideon took charge. He snapped his Sural furiously and began charging white mana. The awesome intensity of his spark nearly blew me away. Part of me had forgotten that he was a full-fledged, battle-tested planeswalker. His mana peaked as he cast his spell, "Aegis Angel!" A ray of pure white light shot from the flame-tinted night sky.

And from it descended a beautiful battle valkyrie. She touched down gently and bowed to Gideon gracefully. "I hear your call for aid and obey," she said.

"Protect the girl, at all costs!" Gideon ordered.

"By your command!" Was the angel's response. She spread her glorious white wings, raised her pike and shield, and set to protect me. With me safe, Gideon turned to engage the creature. I wanted to help him, I truly did, but my body refused to move; my mind wouldn't let me. The shock of seeing Saints here in this place was too much for me to handle. I simply sat there on my knees, watching the battle unfold.

Gideon was brilliant. His command of the Sural was truly masterful. Charged with white mana, the three whip blades easily sliced through the tainted black order's creatures. Creature after creature fell to his blades. And before long, the entire black force had been slain. Gideon surveyed the area, standing breathless and battle- charged as he looked for any remaining threats. Seeing none, he turned to me.

No one anticipated what happened next.

Gideon's angel walked out to meet her master. Gideon thanked her graciously and then turned his eyes to me. Suddenly they went wide with terror. He shouted something that for some reason, I couldn't hear. The Aegis angel whipped around and flew in my direction, her weapon raised; eyes set on a threat I couldn't see.

She was too late.

A sharp scythe- like claw had pierced my abdomen from behind. In my mental-shocked state, I couldn't immediately register what this meant. I looked down and my body told me right away. The tip of the claw had run clean though me, and was soaked with my blood. I grabbed it with my gloved hand let out a tiny moan of pain. I was going to die.

The angel was flying in slow motion; the flames suddenly had no heat; Gideon's cries were silent. Everything turned to black as I slipped into oblivion.

…...

Waking was a slow torment. The world refused to come into focus. I could hear sounds, but couldn't see their sources. I was laying on something rough, but comfortable. Wait a second…how did I know any of this? Didn't I just die? At last my eyes opened and I could take in the view around me. I was lying in a bed of burlap and straw. There were faces poised anxiously over mine. One of them was Gideon's. "At last," he sighed, relieved.

I sat looking at the dawn colored sky, I could do this because part of this building's roof was missing. I sat up slowly and took a look around. Nothing about the place seemed remarkable, other than the fact that so much of it was missing. I could see confused and begrieved people wandering around through the open door. I could hear crying, screaming, and orders being shouted from someone. Through theses sounds, the memory came back to me. The fire; the black creatures; the reaper running me through. I clutched my stomach and I soon realized that the wound that should have killed me…wasn't even there. I looked to Gideon, "What happened? Shouldn't I be…"

"Dead?" Gideon responded. "Under normal circumstances, yes. But you had my angel's protection over you."

"When Aegis Angel enters the battlefield, another target permanent is indestructible for as long as you control Aegis Angel." My response was automatic, the words were out before I even knew I said them. Needless to say, I think I have a new favorite creature.

Gideon's confusion over my statement showed on his face briefly, then he adopted another look. "Angell, tell me what happened last night. Tell me why you couldn't fight."

I knew that was something I couldn't avoid. Why I froze up and went into complete brain lock. The memory came back to me, as hot as the flames that consumed Lu-Perral. I brought my knees to my chest as I braced myself to remember. "I had a friend, on my home plane of earth," I said. "A friend who I held dear above all my others. We knew each other for years; we were inseparable. We had the same interests and hobbies; that's how we met." Gideon remained respectfully silent as I paused for breath. "Running through the city, seeing the buildings burning and the people dying, I knew I would make the black order scourge responsible for it pay with their lives. When I reached the square, I felt the presence of another planeswalker."

"Indeed. I felt the last of their presence fade as I found you," Gideon said.

I nodded slowly and continued. "All the terror and destruction I saw; he was responsible for it. That planes walker…was my best friend." My throat tightened as I formed those last words. They just didn't seem possible.

"He being also from earth," Gideon said with a nod. "That means, he is the other child the prophecy speaks of."

The prophecy. Now it makes complete sense. Two moons will fall. One, an angel bearing two towers. Me. The other, a saint burdened by darkness. Saints.

How cruelly accurate.

I think back to our lives on earth, more specifically, our time spent playing magic the gathering. His uncanny attraction to black mana, the smile that would cross his face every time he played his black sun's zenith. And mine the opposite case. My fascination with white spells, and the white sun's zenith. The immense satisfaction I would feel playing it's card; releasing it's power. We were always on opposite sides of that particular scale. Every Friday night before heading for the game store we would wage a battle and imagine the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance. Could it be that those battles were a form of…training? Preparation for the true battle that would be fought far away from our home? Knowing that Saints was on the other side of the conflict…was too much to think about.

Gideon knelt beside me and took my hand. He didn't say anything, he just looked into my eyes. I'm sure, as experienced and knowledgeable as he was, he didn't quite have the words to comfort me in this particular situation. Neither did I. I looked to Gideon as he stared at me. I could see him searching for something to say. And before I realized it, I flung my arms around his neck and cried. I cried fully for about ten minutes. Hot tears ran down my face and down Gideon's shoulders. I cried largely from grief and confusion. But a very, very small part of me cried in relief. Knowing that Gideon was there to offer what comfort he could. He embraced me during my emotional outpouring.

When I had finally finished crying, a strange change had seemingly taken place inside my mind. With the haze of anguish having run it's course, there was only room for one thing left; focus. Gideon said we came to Lu-Perral for a reason, it was time to find out why. I plied this question to him.

"This city is home to a once great arcmage. She may have been wizened by time, but she still has a remarkable gift for teaching. And her lessons will surely hold great benefit for you," was his response.

I was going to learn magic from an arcmage. Awesome. But due to this city's unfortunate recent circumstance, I doubt she would really have the time; _if _she was still alive. "After the attack last night, do you think she's still…alive?" I asked.

"Quite so," Gideon said back. "I can feel her presence even now. Come, I will take you to her." We left the half burned building and took to the streets. Now, in the daylight, I could see the true extent of the damage that had been done. Thin grey smoke still wafted from the shells of burned out buildings. People were everywhere, on every street having nowhere to go with their homes having been destroyed. Grieving parents took what solace they could from priests offering blessings of parting in impromptu funeral services. A burning knot of shame formed inside me knowing that when these people truly needed aid; I had failed miserably to rise to the occasion.

Some savior I turned out to be.

As we came upon the wreckage of the town square, I could hear elevated voices, one in particular rang stronger than the others. "And I told you I would have been just fine! Having held me back, do you see now what you have caused? The destruction of our home!"

There was a large group of peace keepers forming a circle around a very elderly woman. She leaned heavily on a wooden walking stick as her spine was curved with age. Her stark white hair was tied back in a practical ponytail. Her skin was worn and wrinkled, but I got the feeling it was more than strictly time that had done so. For some reason I could picture her crossing vast wastelands under beating hot suns, enduring raging snowstorms in merciless tundras, standing triumphant in many a battle along the way. Just who was she?

The old woman was in the middle of a very illustrated point to her apparent guardians, when suddenly, she stopped speaking entirely. Her head jerked upwards and she stared intensely into space with her eyebrows furrowed and mouth slightly agape. It was the face of sudden realization and remembrance. Something had fired inside her mind and shocked her out of reality. Then she turned her head sharply and stared directly at me. Looking onto her eyes now, I could see what I could not before. This woman, though tremendously aged, still had eyes that could cut through steel. They were a solid, stormy grey, and they bore right into my soul.

Without a word she made her way through the peace keepers and stood directly before me. She stared into my eyes for about forever before she finally said, "So…the angel is finally upon us." It just then that she seemed to first notice Gideon. "You seem to be keeping well, Jura." she said to him.

"Not as much as yourself, Lavonia," Gideon said with a bow.

Wow. Someone who could draw a bow from even a planeswalker. This woman obviously garnered great respect. I felt inclined to follow Gideon's example. "The girl's spark is absolutely immense. She even exceeds yours, Gideon." she said.

Somehow, I doubt I even begin to compare to the great Gideon Jura, but Lavonia had obviously just paid me a fine compliment, I had to show my appreciation. I pulled the corners of my skirt up just slightly, crossed my right foot over my left and bent my knees in my first ever curtsy. "Thank you, my lady," I said.

This seemed to satisfy her. "And such wonderful manners as well. You could learn a thing or two from this young lady, Jura," she said pointedly. She looked to his face and could obviously pick up on what he was truly thinking. We were not here for small talk and pleasantries. She chuckled dryly, "Let me guess, you want me to teach her everything I know?"

"If it would not trouble you, my lady," was Gideon's sober response.

"Very well then. Best my talents are put to some use, rather than being forced to sit around by _some people_ and watch your city laid to waste!" She turned angrily to her guardians who hastily averted their gazes. It was clear they meant the best in keeping Lavonia out of harm's way during the attack, but she didn't bother hiding her agitation at this fact. She turned her eyes back to me. "I sense you've some spells about you," she said with a critical gaze, "But you lack knowledge. In that case, I will impart the true meaning of the white mana arts upon you. Make yourself ready."

Over the next five days, I was trained under the wisdom of the arcmage Lavonia. She started with simple spells of summoning small creatures and light enchantments, but soon progressed to ridiculously demanding incantations. She pushed me to my absolute limit, showing no quarter in her regime. If I failed a spell, I had to try a harder one, if I failed that, I had to attempt an even more difficult spell. By putting such a heavy strain on my mana flow, she was slowly increasing the amount that I could harness at one time. It was like wearing ankle weights; The longer you kept them on, the more accustomed to the burden you become, and when you finally take them off, you suddenly feel lighter than air.

With time, I mastered every challenge Lavonia put to me. No spell was too big; no technique too difficult. My final test came in the form of a mock battle between Lavonia and myself.

"Don't take it easy on this old lady," she said, "Show me everything you learned, right here and now.

We used the ruined town square as our battle ground. We stood on opposite sides of the courtyard. Lavonia bowed her head to me and I returned the gesture; respect between dueling opponents. A crowd had gathered around the square, anxious to see the angel and the arcmage do battle. I opted for the first move. "Increasing devotion!" in a flash of white, five armored soldiers appeared before me, ready for my command. "Honor of the pure!" A soft golden light enveloped my soldiers, raising their spirits as they let out a battle cry. I was off to a great start.

Lavonia chuckled calmly and copied my spell, she soon had her own legion of soldiers at the ready. Now came the time to enter combat. I confidently sent my soldiers forward, knowing my enchantment gave them greater power.

That's when I learned a hard fact.

This wasn't at all like the trading card game at home. You didn't sit there at a table watching your opponent summon their creatures and make their plays, popping in with the occasional instant now and then, and politely waiting for their turn to end. No. In the actual multiverse, things were _way_ different.

Before my soldiers could reach their targets, every last one of them were destroyed by a rapid series of spell casting from Lavonia. Before I could recover, she sent two of her unit in for combat, holding back three for blocking. I stayed calm and responded, "Feeling of dread!" her soldiers were stopped in their tracks instantly. "Hero of blade hold!" an armored paladin atop a fierce war horse appeared before me. "Great sword!" a flash of white granted her a gleaming battle sword, further increasing her power. "Now go forth!" She didn't obey my command. She stood looking slightly dazed, as though she couldn't quite get her wits together. Then I remembered…she was suffering from summoning sickness.

Lavonia pounced on the opportunity. She re-casted increasing devotion, this time giving her ten more soldiers '_flashback'_ I thought. Then she continued. "Requiem Angel!" A beautiful mourning angel descended from the sky and settled before her.

It was then that I noticed that my hero of blade hold had gotten her act together. I didn't hesitate. "Attack!" She sped toward Lavonia, her stallion's hooves thundering on the cobblestones. Suddenly, two soldiers appeared at her side to join the charge. With her battle cry and my enchantment, they would overpower anyone in their way.

Lavonia calmly cast her next spell, "Stonehorn Dignitary!" A sturdy rhino soldier appeared before her and my attackers were brought to a halt by it's stalwart gaze. "Divine Reckoning!" An aura of white light surrounded every creature on the battlefield.

I knew this spell; I had to make a choice of which of mine survived, and which were obliterated. "Hero of blade hold," I said as I made my decision.

"Requiem Angel!" was Lavonia's choice. The light exploded around the un-chosen creatures as they were wiped from the map. Except in Lavonia's case. Her creatures became spirits. Of course! Requiem Angel's effect!

I was faced with fifteen flying spirits and a powerful angel, all of which Lavonia sent after me. My hero of Blade hold was grounded; she couldn't block a single one. My mana was tapped out and I was defenseless; I had no other options. "I surrender!" I said, taking to one knee. Knowing this was only a mock battle, I knew I had this option. All the creatures instantly vanished from the battlefield.

There were mixed reactions from the gathered crowed. Some applauded Lavonia's fine performance, others seemed surprised at my sudden surrender. Lavonia crossed the courtyard and looked to me. Her face was a strange mix of disappointment and satisfaction. "You have learned much," she said, "But know this, child. In future battles there will be no such comfort of surrender. Doing so means surrendering your life to the enemy."

"I understand…" I said.

Lavonia nodded. "As the final step, I will-" She sharply cut off her own statement as she turned quickly to her right. A small disturbance had caught her attention. The crowd parted to let a single man through. Even from this distance, the feeling was unmistakable. The aura that pulled on my mind and raised my neck hairs; he was a planeswalker.

His dark brown hair was unkempt and fell over his forehead, he wore a long white coat that was tattered at the hem and caked with several days worth of dirt. Overall he gave off the impression of having spent several weeks in the wilderness. He stopped right in front of us now and looked at me with hard black eyes. I now noticed something else about him. While the left sleeve of his coat was perfectly level with his body, his hand protruding from the cuff as normal, his right sleeve flapped around in the breeze that had suddenly picked up. He only had one arm.

"Thel…" Lavonia said cautiously.

"Don't talk to me, hag," the planeswalker spat in a gravelly voice.

His disrespect of my new mentor sickened me. "You should watch your mouth." I said.

"Oh really?" the man said with a less than amused chuckle. Before I could act, his boot caught me in the stomach and I was on my knees unable to breathe. He pointed the tip of his sword at my nose and said, "My name is Jeriah Thel, and if you dare call yourself a planeswalker, you will accept my challenge or I will kill you where you stand."

*End of Chapter 6*


	7. Chapter 7

*Chapter 7*

And there I was on the ground, unable to breathe and staring down Jeriah's sword blade. which was pointed at my nose. Just who the hell was this guy, and what was his problem? Lavonia watched closely; I'm sure the only reason she hasn't acted yet is because she must be convinced that he wouldn't actually carry out his little threat. I wasn't so sure. There were armored footfalls fast approaching from behind and I'm sure it was Gideon coming to my aid. "No, Gideon," I said firmly. He stopped just at my side and glared a hole through our new friend. "Alright, listen here" I said as I rose to my feet. "I've only had the pleasure of knowing you for about ten seconds, and I already hate you. And on that note, I reject your challenge, planeswalker. When you learn to approach a lady with a little tact, _then_ maybe I can take you seriously." I turned my back on him and Joined Gideon's side.

Jeriah tossed his head back and let out a great roaring laugh. "Well, well, looks our new little hero of the zenith has some fight in her after all!"

"Thel, I do wish you would act less impulsively. Honestly, do you meet every person you ever encounter with a death threat?" Lavonia said.

"I told you not to talk to me," Jeriah snapped back. For some reason, he really disliked Lavonia. "So, Gideon, it's been a while…"

Gideon measured Jeriah for a moment before saying, "Indeed. You have been absent from this plane for quite some time."

"Zendikar is a hell of a place…" Jeriah said with a small smile.

Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, I had left off listening. For some reason, something that Jeriah said was troubling me. It wasn't just the way he said it, it was the fact that he said it at all. "You said _new _hero of the zenith. What do you mean by that?"

Jeriah stopped his conversation and stared at me for a moment. He wore a look of annoyance and surprise, as though he were contemplating weather to even answer my question. "The girl is sharp," he said at length. He broke into a crooked grin and continued, "You honestly think you are the first person to ever have been called upon by the zenith? Well I'll tell you, you aren't the first, but you are defiantly the last."

I needed a strait answer. Jeriah's patronizing humor wasn't going to do it for me. I turned to my new mentor. "Lavonia?"

She nodded her head. "The zeniths of the five colored suns," she began. "Each is the embodiment of a great and almighty being. Such beings cannot actually show their true selves to the eyes of the world, for reasons unknown to us mortals, so they take the form of the zeniths. Each has it's own purpose and will to fulfill, and those will obviously vary given whichever you are taking into consideration. Every so often, these being will come into conflict, and were they to confront one another directly, their sheer almighty power would devastate the worlds of their own making. So in their steads, they seek out those which they find worthy to take up their wills. Their searches are vast. Every facet of every reality is meticulously poured over until they find their chosen being. And upon finding them, they are called across the blind eternities to fulfill the purpose of the zenith that chose them."

I digested this new information. So that's how I arrived here on Terra-Fausta, I was found worthy by the white sun's zenith. And now I'm to carry out it's will. "The zeniths," I said, "Are almighty beings, so they can travel between planes?"

"Indeed. For that matter, all planeswalkers are more or less facets of the zeniths. Each one will awaken a spark inside a being they find fitting to share their knowledge of the eternities."

That's how planeswalkers were born. Amazing. "Okay, so if I remember correctly, the last known location of the zeniths was the plane of Mirrodin. Why were they there?"

"Because they needed to be," was Lavonia's answer.

"A certain Phyrexian invasion had a little something to do with it," Jeriah added.

I paced in a small circle as I tried to settle all this in my head. So the white sun's zenith called me here to carry out it's will, the same holds true for Saints in the black sun's regard. Apparently they move about from plane to plane settling the conflicts that arise amongst them. But only two were on this plane as of now. "The zeniths are almighty beings…" I said quietly. "The black and white sun's, they're Terra and Fausta aren't they?"

"The life givers of our world," Lavonia said in confirmation.

So the two great angels, Terra and Fausta, were at conflict. Me and Saints were to resolve it. I looked to Gideon to see his face was a mask of studious silence. Apparently, he was as new to this information as I was. "I've one more question," I said. Lavonia granted me permission to speak. "Me and my enemy, we are the _last_ children of the zeniths. Why is that so?"

"That, child, I cannot honestly answer," Lavonia said sadly. "Fate is it's own dictator, bent not by will or force, but by it's own divine method. Everything has it's reason, some just take longer to reveal theirs than others."

I took a long slow breath and shut my eyes for a moment. All this information, while new, held a singular nuance, it was all remarkably, resoundingly true, every last word. I was the last child of the white sun's zenith. A planeswalker chosen not by chance, but by design, I was an instrument of divine will. It was time to act like it. I opened my eyes and looked to Gideon. "I think we should get moving," I said. Gideon nodded, sensing my emerging resolve. I turned to Lavonia to say goodbye. I took to one knee and bowed my head. "It has been an honor, my lady."

"Oh, no, the honor was mine, great angel," Lavonia said back. "And on that note, I have one more gift for you." she snapped her fingers and before her materialized a magnificent gleaming sword. It stuck in the ground blade first. I moved closer to examine it. The sword was well over seven feet long from hilt to tip. The blade was thin, fine, but strong, with a shining silver finish. The hilt was onyx and was obviously intended for two hands. "This is my blade, but this old body of mine can no longer wield it. So I impart it unto you, Angell. Of course it will not respond to you unless you give it it's new name."

I approached the sword and grasped the hilt, which was on my eye level. Then, seemingly from the bottom of my soul, I could feel my declaration rising. Speaking more to the sword than anyone else I said, "I dub this blade, _Kenziner!_" The sword glowed warm in my hands and with one easy motion I was able to free it from the earth and wield it elegantly.

"So the angel's got a sword…" Jeriah whispered.

"It truly becomes you, Angell," Gideon said.

Lavonia supplied my new sword's sheathe and I fastened it around my back. Kenziner fit snuggly into it. I didn't stop to think for a second about how I could wield a sword, it was just one of those things that seemed to come naturally to me in this new world. "Lavonia, I cannot thank you enough. I swear to bring glory to your blade once again."

" 'Tis no longer mine, child. Now it is you who will write a new chapter in it's history." She bowed her head graciously, "May the zenith grant you strength," she said.

I retuned the gesture and said to Gideon, "And so we go."

"And so we go," he said back.

We left through the gates of the city amongst fanfare and fare wells from the city folk. It wasn't until then that I realized that Jeriah had been following us. He stared at me with unreadable eyes. I then realized that this could be an excellent opportunity to gain another planeswalker ally. I extended my hand to him. "Jeriah, come with us, please. With your added might we could-"

"I've better things to do than follow some silly little girl on some self- righteous quest." He took a step forward and vanished , possibly from this plane entirely.

Oh well, I tried.

I looked to Gideon, I liked it better with just me and him anyway. "Gideon, I was thinking,"

"About…"

"About me and my enemy. We pretty much have mirror destinies. If I'm not alone, there's a good chance that he isn't working alone either."

"So what do you propose?" Gideon said thoughtfully.

"The black order is not run by a single body. There are more; minions and servants, even now I can feel them." Maybe it was through Lavonia's training or my new resolve, but I swear I could feel the presence of the black order all around me, in small lingering flickers. "I propose we start with them. Seeing our initiative, the hierarchs of the black order will have no choice but to respond."

"Then we will make it so," Gideon said with conviction.

Just then, there was a disturbance in the sky. A series of clouds parted and a winged creature emerged in their wake. It slowly descended upon us and landed lightly on the ground before us. It was a deep grey mare with a black mane and splendid feathery wings.

It was a stormfront Pegasus.

I approached the creature slowly and even more so, ran my gloved hand down her neck. "Good girl," I said to her. She whinnied in approval. She bent down on her two front legs and lowered her neck to the ground, an obvious invitation for me to mount. It was just then that I had a thought. _It's hooves touch the earth only when a hero must rise._ I was that hero. I turned to Gideon and said, "Time to fly."

…...

The room was nearly empty, save for it's lone occupant. Standing in front of the lone wall-window, her shadow was cast the length of the room. Suddenly there was a disturbance, the fluttering of a cloak and the appearance of a lone figure. The figure walked to the foot of the three steps that was his mistress's perch. He took to one knee and remained silent, knowing full well, having failed his orders, he was not permitted to speak until spoken to. A length of time passed, in which all was still, until finally, the necromancer broke the silence. "I am disappointed," she said at last.

"I deeply apologize, mistress. I did not expect my enemy to be…familiar."

"Be that as it may, you have been given a task and I fully expect it to be carried out." Liliana turned around and descended the three stairs and stood before her pupil. "Rise," she said. Saints did so, meeting his mistress's gaze. "Failure is not looked kindly upon. But in this instance, and this instance only, you will be forgiven. Now leave my sight before I change my mind."

Saints turned on his heel and left the room. At the door he was met with two vampiress servants, which he waved off and continued his way to his chambers. Liliana's words still swam around in his head. '_I am disappointed. Failure is not looked kindly upon. Leave my sight…' _Saints was angered, both with the words and himself. Damn that Angell! This was her fault! If he had not been so taken aback, he would easily killed her without a thought. Just what was she doing here anyway? How was it she ended up on Terra-Fausta along side him? It didn't matter that she was his enemy, he had crushed many an angel of her like before, one more would be no effort.

Saints pushed open the doors to his chambers and stood for a moment in the relative silence. His bed had been turned down, and as inviting as sleep was at the moment, his mind would never allow it, not in this state. He walked to the window and gazed out upon the moon-lit forest. It seemed like day never dawned on this place, locked in an endless cycle of nocturnal secrecy. It was then that he remembered something. Or rather, someone. The first real contact he had upon his arrival in this place. Saints closed his eyes and called out in his mind. 'Sheoldred…' he waited for an answer. None came. 'Sheoldred, you promised to guide me now do so! I need your words!' the whispering one remained silent, turning her back just as his mistress had.

"Oh, my, so serious." His new lover, the bloodthrone vampire had soundlessly entered the room and draped her arms around his neck. She kissed her way down to his nape while her fingers traced his chest.

As enticing as his lovers' embrace was, Saints was not in the mood, and said so. Bloodthrone pouted and seated herself on the edge of the bed. "I apologize," he said. "I've a lot on my mind."

"The mistress can be cruel, yes. But it is not without purpose. You being the last child of the black sun's zenith, hardships can be expected," Bloodthrone said.

Saints joined her on the bed and took her hand in his. He loved her hands, so small and white; those long beautiful claws so meticulously filed and polished. "I've a request," he said.

"Yes, dearest?" Saints told her and she obliged with a smile. She got up and produced a strait razor from his chest of drawers, and set about her task. She carefully shaved the sides of Saints' afro down, leaving him with a single stripe of hair that was his Mohawk. "My, my, what an interesting style. Is this how they wear their hair on the plane you come from?"

"Some people do," Saints said. And in a move of consensual spontaneity, he kissed her lips and pressed her down into the bedding.

"Love me, child of the black sun," Bloodthrone purred.

And he did.

…...

It was a new kind of freedom. I had flown over the ground, now I flew over the clouds. My Pegasus flew over even the highest mountain, making the villages below look like scale model toys. Though there was no saddle and no reins, I didn't need them, sitting in the small of the creatures back, right behind her wing joints was the perfect seating position. Gideon, having summoned his own mighty flying griffin, soared by my side as we journeyed through the clouds. This flight, while endlessly exhilarating, was not without purpose. Having felt the newly emerging presence of the black orders' minions, Gideon and I set off in wake of their trail. My heart was thumping somewhere in the middle of my throat, for I knew, that one way or another, we were headed into a battle.

We needn't wait long.

Suddenly on the horizon, there appeared what looked like an immense shadow. It started as no more than a pinprick, but soon was steadily expanding itself until it appeared as a single monstrous shadow. The sun seemed to go out as the sky was overtaken by this immense cloud of darkness.

"Gideon, what is that?" I didn't even have to bother pointing.

"Your question should be, 'What are they?' Gideon responded, producing his Sural.

I looked closer at the mass, and yes, I could see that instead of a single massive entity, the shadow was comprised of many winged creatures. Kenziner was in my hands before the words escaped my mouth. "The black order knows we are coming."

"Then they are right to fear us!" Gideon said with increasing conviction. "Angell, to arms!"

I raised Kenziner above my head and used it as a focus for my mana harness. We flew closer and closer to the creatures' grasp now, every synapse in my body firing at maximum capacity as I calculated what kind of effort it would take to defeat this many of them. I also finally got a bead on the recognition of these things, they were duskhunter bats.

We could hear the frenzied shrieking of these horrid things now, that even drowned out the rush of wind in our ears. Looking into a thousand eyes of crazed blood lust, we finally collided.

Me and Gideon took different directions as we cut a path through the bats. Though they were numerous, they were collectively unintelligent; our white mana-charged weapons cut right through them. My face was slapped with hundreds of leathery wings and their shrieking was threatening to overcome my hearing. I slashed Kenziner this way and that, cutting down a bat with every stroke. My Pegasus whinnied in shocked pain as a bat had latched onto her flank. I lopped it's head off and sent it plummeting through the mass of madness. I held Kenziner in my right hand as I fired off spells with my left. "Rebuke! Rebuke! Rebuke!" I vaporized more bats than I could count, but for every one destroyed, five seemingly took it's place.

I lurched forward as a bat had launched itself into my back. It's weight surprised me, they were much bigger than I thought. I veered my Pegasus sharply to the right and was able to shake it. But I was accosted by one more; two more; three more. They began to work at my clothing with gnashing teeth and claws. "Stave off!" They were jettisoned from my body with incredible velocity, knocking into other bats in their path. It was at this point that I knew we were being overwhelmed. I could see past my own nose through the flickering wing beats of these horrible things.

And that's when I formed my idea.

It was a long shot, but is was better than no shot at all. "You things want me?" I shouted above their screeching. "Than come and get me!" I dispelled my Pegasus, and with nothing now underneath me, I plummeted through the sky. I fell with my back to the ground so I could keep my eyes on the flock of bats. The wind absolutely roared in my ears and my clothes and hair rippled like whips around me as my stomach flew up to my throat.

I was in absolute free fall.

And then, the cloud of duskhunter bats all at once changed direction. It was a completely uniform motion, again suggesting the fact, if not already known otherwise, that they were a single life form. They were coming after me now, just as I had hoped. But apparently, I could fall faster than they could fly, I was well ahead of the mass and the earth was coming up fast. With no hesitation I thrust Kenziner into the rushing air and shouted, "Serra Angel!"

A white flash of heavenly feathers raced by me. The creature had no doubt appeared behind and below me, as though sensing my intent. I swear I must have been no more than ten feet from the ground when I fell squarely into Serra Angel's arms. She descended the remaining distance gracefully and deposited me on my feet.

"Thank you," I said to the angel. She bowed her head in gratitude and I focused on my final task. I cast a look to the sky I had fallen from and saw the mass of bats swooping in on us quickly. I calmly raised my hand to the sky, waiting for just the right moment when all of the bats would cluster together. And with no time to spare, cast my spell.

It was the first spell I thought of at the moment, and something incredible happened. This was one of the spells that Lavonia taught to me. Ordinarily, it was difficult to cast; I had failed it many times. But here, on impulse and spur of the moment, the normally demanding spell was incredibly easy to cast, requiring almost no effort whatsoever. I drew breath and shouted, "Terminus!" And instantly, every last duskhunter bat simply vanished.

With the sky clear of threats, I could finally see Gideon make his way through the sky towards us. He landed his griffin, leaned forward, and said with remarkable calm, "You could have told me you were going to do that."

I beamed at him. "It worked, did it not?"

Gideon approached me and clapped his hands on my shoulders. "You have grown so much, and in such little time. You are truly the angel of the prophecy," he said. I could feel the heat rising in my face. Such words of praise from Gideon moved many things inside me; the confidence I could finally feel to believe I could carry out this quest. The belief in my comrades and their support. And something else, something that I couldn't explain. Something….something….good…that I only felt with Gideon.

"The black order has been driven back on this day, but they will no doubt redouble their efforts in the face of defeat. Our victory may not last long."

"Let them come," I said. Their numbers meant nothing. They could no longer hide. They would be forced to face us or fear extinction in cowardice. No matter where they were, we would find them, and drive them back to the abyss they came from.

Let them come.

*End of Chapter 7*

-A/N

About the zeniths. I have to tell you guys up front that Mirrodin besieged is my favorite MTG set all-time. And upon pulling a white sun's and a black sun's zenith from the same fat pack…I instantly fell in love. There seemed to be some otherworldly force at play that day. The contrast between black and white; that's where the idea for this fic started to take form. It idled on my mind for quite some time before I really started writing on it.

The zeniths, yes, are more or less unique to Mirrodin, but I thought…what if they weren't just rooted in one plane? The concept of the colored zeniths simply fascinated me. To me, they were much more than come and go sorceries, they seemed forces unto themselves. I thought a fanfic based on the zeniths themselves would be pretty hard to pull off, but given the proper twist, why shouldn't it work? After all, a fanfic is just a fanfic; my _what if_ kind of approach to unleashing this bizarre imagination o' mine.

Anyway, Zeniths FTW! And thank you guys for sticking with my story up to this point and another thanks for the kind reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

*Chapter 8*

The moon was full; an eye-catching iridescent pearl against the cloudless night sky. Liliana took a slow sip of carefully brewed tea and did her best to suppress a smile. She had quite the uncanny fondness for a good earl-grey. Several vampiress servants stood at attention around her, just in case their mistress had any sudden qualms that needed swift attendance.

Out here in the garden; the perfect place for a spot of tea. And for a meeting. Unfortunately, her cohort was late. How long ago had he received her call? Such blatant disrespect to keep her waiting like this! And then suddenly, as though responding to her irritation, there was a sudden pull on her mind that signified the approach of her companion.

He appeared without a sound, startling quite a few of the vampiresses. Liliana ignored his presence for just a moment; he had kept her waiting, now he would wait for her. And finally, Liliana uncrossed her legs and rose from her garden table. She took a few slow steps in her guest's direction and said, "You are late, Avidoz."

The man before her made a small gesture of apology. "You must forgive me, dear mistress, so many things to see to between eternities." His voice was distant and somewhat muffled. This due to the fact that he wore a black leather sack over his head (not unlike the kind that execution victims would wear) secured with a leather collar holding a lock that could only be opened with the key in Liliana's possession. His whole ensemble gave off the impression that he simply seemed to be rotting away. His black leather clothing was ingloriously faded and seemed to be hanging loose on his emaciated body. His knee length cloak was shredded, torn, and more or less badly cared for. In all, he was not a sight easy to behold.

It was no less than eight years ago that Avidoz and Liliana had their original run-in; in some achingly dull backwater plane called Gallendor. Liliana was searching for a legendary gemstone that could only be found on this particular plane. It was called the heart of the onyx, and supposedly, when combined with it's counterpart, the eye of the diamond, it granted it's wearer knowledge of all mana arts.

After much scouring of the plane, Liliana was not met with the legendary gem stone, but rather with it's guardian, Avidoz Stalingrad. At the time, he was young, and even Liliana would admit, something of a looker. His white skin seemed to accentuate his dark hair and eyes. As far as planeswalkers of the black order go, this one seemed just plain backwards to Liliana. How was it you could use the black mana arts to help or protect people? Apparently he had found a way, for Avidoz was highly heralded amongst his people of Gallendor. Upon pressing him for information of the stone he was protecting, Avidoz launched into some speech about how the legendary stone would never fall into the hands of some black hearted witch such as herself. And something about having kept the stone safe for dozens of years…and good…and evil…and blah, blah, blah.

The two planeswalkers collided in heated battle. Liliana found him to be quite the formidable opponent. Avidoz, much like Liliana, was a necromancer, but his black order spells had just a small touch of white mana to them, giving him a style that was all his own. In the end, however, he was overpowered and killed. Liliana had forgotten about her original itinerary at this point; much more interested in this bizarre black and white planeswalker. She re-animated his badly beaten body and locked the cursed veil over his head, trapping him in a world of darkness that only Liliana could guide him through.

"You now belong to me," she told him. "You are to appear at my beck and call where ever I should be. Should you fail to obey, I will simply destroy you again, re-raise you, and destroy you _again._ Now, thank me for doing you such an honor."

Seeing no other choice, Avidoz bent to the will of his new mistress, bringing him to where he is now.

"What is it that my dear mistress calls for?"

"The black sun's child has proven to be incompetent. You are to fulfill his role and eliminate our enemy," Liliana said.

"Ah, yes, the little angel," Avidoz chuckled. "I hear she's quite the talk around these parts." He lifted his head and regarded her presence for a moment. "And quite the impressive spark as well."

"The sooner she is dead, the sooner the search for the zenith can begin. Now go, Avidoz!" Liliana ordered.

"As you wish." Avidoz took a step forward and vanished from the spot, hot on the trail of his prey.

Flush with the victory over the black order's creatures, me and Gideon took a moment to do inventory. After the sortie, we had managed to lose our supplies. I did a sweep of the surrounding area and saw nothing but rolling plains and forests as far as I could see. But apparently, Gideon could see something else. A sign post.

"We are in luck," he said. "The village of Tasla is just a small ways from here."

"Beautiful," I said back. How did I not see that sign post? And so we set off for Tasla. The trip was so short that we opted to travel on foot rather than horseback, which was good because it gave me time to think. Just where had that flock of duskhunter bats come from? Well, that question was easy to answer; they were obviously sent by the black order. But the attack was much too organized to be a collaborative effort on the bats' part. So the question was _who_ had sent them? My first thought was Saints, he was our ultimate enemy, but after our first encounter, I'm sure he'd rather meet me face to face. He wasn't the type to sit back and let a flock of monsters do his handiwork. Someone else was at play here; someone who knew we were coming and wanted to send us a message.

My eyes wandered this way and that, drinking in the scenery as I ran these things through my mind. They fell on my planeswalker companion at my left, walking along at a measured but insistent pace. That brings me to the other thing I wanted to think about.

Gideon.

Everything I knew about this once fictional character had come from my experience playing magic the gathering. But here, on Terra-Fausta, in this new real life, I had learned so much more about him. He was fiercely loyal, stalwart, and true. There was nothing he wouldn't do to protect me; to protect the last hope of the land. His was the first voice of true guidance I had heard on my arrival here. He was the center of my new world; my hero; my champion. But what else was he to me?

My stomach started fluttering again as my imagination told me things. Gideon was strong, capable, and handsome; everything a woman would look for in a man. But was I really a woman? I was just a teenage girl from an alien plane, no matter how important I was here. No. I can't think like that. Maybe I could…maybe I could find some way to… My heart beat reached my throat as these kind of thoughts raced through my brain.

"Ah! We have arrived!" Gideon swept his arms in front of him to take in the sight of our destination. The village of Tasla.

"Gr-great," my voice had to work around the lump in my throat. Our boots crunched on the dirt path leading up to the village; the birds twilled in the distance, brightening the air with their melodies; a slight breeze whistled through the trees and our ears. But it was what I _wasn't _hearing that bothered me. I stopped walking and took a good listen.

Gideon did the same. "What is the matter?" he said to me.

My eyes were focused on some invisible point in the distance. I held my breath and cupped my hands around my ears. There was the mimic of the ocean's roar, but nothing else. "I can't hear anything," I said.

Gideon turned to me, absolutely terrified. "Are you sure? Angell, can you hear me!"

"No I mean, I can't hear anything from the village."

Gideon looked to the building sprawling out before us. "I do not understand," he said.

I took a few steps, my head sweeping forward and back, using both of my ears. "There is no sound," I said. "No sound of life."

Without a word, Gideon took off running up to the village gates. I followed just as swiftly. We ran through the gates and didn't stop until we reached the town center. Every which way we turned we were met with the same thing.

Nothing.

There were no people, there was no livestock, the was no life. Me and Gideon panned out to investigate the area. I made a strange discovery. It was a long wooden table laden with foodstuff. There were plates and silverware and everything. The eatery was perfectly arranged to serve ten people, counting the chairs. Not far from this arrangement was something even stranger. On the ground to my right was an assortment of long thin wooden poles. They didn't exhibit the signs of having been there long; worn; broken; covered in dirt. If anything, they looked fairly new. They were neatly arranged in a pattern that resembled a grid.

Just what had happened here? There were more instances like these all around us. Belongings that didn't seem long abandoned, but it was as if their owners had suddenly…vanished.

I was inspecting a walking cane that had fallen into the dirt when I felt it. That telltale tingle on the back of my mind. I looked into the sky and said, "I didn't think we would see each other again so soon, Jeriah."

The one-armed planeswalker appeared, leaning against a wooden shed. "Nor did I," he grumbled.

Gideon joined us as asked Jeriah, "Have you any idea what happened here?"

"These people were eaten by a flock of duskhunter bats," Jeriah answered listlessly. He took a moment to register the shock on our faces and then added, "Or at least they would have, had I not intervened."

"Those creatures, you saw them?" I asked him.

"Apparently, I was the only one who did. They were still a ways off when I felt their presence."

"That does not explain what happened here," Gideon was growing impatient again. "What in the seven heavens did you do?"

A small and somewhat devilish grin crossed Jeriah's face, "Just a little spell called sudden disappearance. Maybe you're familiar with it?"

So that explains it. Every last person in this village was exiled from here for their own protection. I didn't need worry, if I knew how this spell worked, then they would return in due time. But I found Jeriah's method to be a little extreme. "You know, a spare from evil would have served just as well, if not better."

A strange look crossed his face then. Somewhere between realization, and the embarrassment of being corrected. Suddenly his left arm snapped forward to weal me in the face, and in an absolute flash, Gideon was there, catching Jeriah's fist in his own hand and twisting his arm painfully. Jeriah tore himself from Gideon's grasp and growled at me, "What do you know, you little bitch?"

"A lot more than you, apparently," I said while keeping a level head. "Gideon, we should wait for the townsfolk's return here."

"Indeed," he said back.

We turned our backs on the brooding planeswalker and settled in to wait.

Hours passed. Sunlight slowly left the world as dusk settled into place. Me and Gideon spent the waning hours walking about the town. It was a little unsettling to see so many abandoned possessions laying around. Tools, toys and other objects simply left where they lay. With no sign of the townsfolk's return and night having truly fallen, we decided to turn in for the night. We found the village inn and entered the lone room that was unlocked. It was spacious enough for the two of us, but there was a problem. There was only one bed. And of course, Gideon, in all his admirable chivalry, volunteered for the floor.

We made ourselves comfortable and settled in. Kenziner and my traveling boots rested at the very foot of the bed. Gideon opted to simply lean against the side, at rest, but still very much at attention. Needless to say, sleep did not come quickly, my mind was much too busy processing the details of the latest leg of our journey. Where would we go from here? How would this all end? My future, at this point, seemed uncertain. Would I be able to return home again someday? And if I did, how would I feel, would I be truly comfortable on earth again? Something inside me told me no, I wouldn't be. I really need to stop this wishful thinking, Terra-Fausta is my home now, perhaps it was always meant to be so…I don't know.

Several hours went by with me staring at the ceiling with my mind on full blast. I finally couldn't take any more and rolled over on my side. "Gideon, are you awake?" I whispered. I saw his mane of long brown hair over the edge of the bed, but there was no response. Suddenly, my mind wandered to a new place. I silently slid off the bed and settled next to him on the floor. It just then occurred to me that this was the first time I've seen him sleep. Along our journey I had done all the sleeping as Gideon volunteered to take watch. Looking at him now I was amazed at how alert he seemed even while sleeping. His arms were folded and his brow slightly furrowed. Completely unconscious, yet completely focused.

My heat jumped into my throat again as I tried to work out just what in the world I was feeling here. Whatever it was, it was new to me. It seemed to start in my stomach and spread some kind of fluttery warmth throughout my body. Though the bed was soft and inviting, I suddenly decided I was more comfortable on the floor. I scooted in closer to Gideon and leaned my head lightly on his shoulder. He had removed his chest plate, leaving him in just his undershirt. I locked my hands into the crook of this arm and decided that even if it's just for tonight, I'd never let go.

I fell asleep almost instantly.

I awoke to find a shaft of sunlight striking me square in the face. I blinked several times and realized that I was in the bed again. Apparently Gideon woke first and placed me back in it, for he wasn't in the room. I pulled my boots on and slung Kenziner across my back and set out to look for him. I had just made it to the door when I collided with him. He dropped his armful of rolls and just barely managed to save the jug of milk he was carrying. "Well, there goes breakfast," he said.

"Nonsense!" I said cheerily. I scooped up the rolls, "Five second rule," I said, taking a bite of one. Gideon chuckled as we tucked into our breakfast. Just before leaving the inn, Gideon placed a handful of silver coins on the front counter; payment for our stay and the food. We stepped into the morning sunlight and found the Tasla in the exact same state as yesterday. No people, no sounds, no anything.

"Jeriah's spell…it should have resolved by now," Gideon said.

I walked out a few paces and did a slow three-sixty. Gideon was right, the people should have returned by now. Could it be that Jeriah had exiled them permanently? "That idiot!" I fumed. "If he had just used-" my rant was cut short. The sudden pull on my mind seemed to rob me of my voice. By now the feeling was second nature to me; the approach of a planeswalker. But this was different, this person's spark was…I couldn't find the right words to describe it. Gideon felt it too and joined my side, his eyes scanning the empty square for signs of their arrival. And then, as though silently compelled, I turned full to my left and there they were.

One thing was clear strait away; this planeswalker was _not_ a friend. Their spark was as cold as death, but underneath that, I could feel…something else. I could hardly look at this person, They seemed entirely decrepit. Their black clothing was loose torn and rotted, and they wore some kind of dark burlap sack over their head. How could they see?

Gideon put a protective arm out in front of me and addressed the new arrival. "You. You are of the black order, are you not?" Gideon produced his Sural before the planeswalker could answer.

"Well, aren't we…perceptive," said the stranger in a harsh masculine whisper.

"Are you responsible for the attack on this town?"

"I've been on this plane only a short time now, so this attack you speak of is of no inside no knowledge of mine." His voice was muffled slightly by the sack over his head. Something told me that I didn't want to see what was underneath.

"What are you here for then?" I spoke up.

"My dear little angel, I have come for you," he cackled.

A cold shock ran up my spine and across my skin. He came…for me? Gideon came to my defense. "Then you have wasted your time, fiend! Back to the hell you came from!"

He charged our enemy, his Sural held at the ready. The black mage lifted his arm calmly and said, "Banishing stroke!" Instantly, Gideon's entire being seemed to shatter. Spider webs of white light ran across his body and he simply vanished.

"_GIDEON!_" My scream seemed to work it's way up from my toes. What had he done? Where had he gone? Just what kind of power did this person have, to be able to banish a planeswalker so easily? "Who…who are you?" My voice could barely function, weighted by grief and fear.

The planeswalker produced his weapon, a long deathly scythe, fashioned from the thick branch of a gnarled tree, it's blade shone in the sunlight. "My name is Avidoz Stalingrad, and I have been sent to end you." He adopted his fighting stance; his weapon held upright, parallel to his body, the blade curving away from the ground. "Come to death, little angel."

*End of chapter 8*


	9. Chapter 9

*Chapter 9*

"Come to death, little angel."

There was a word that immediately came to mind to describe what I was feeling. Fear. In it's most crippling and rarest form. For the rest of everything else I was feeling, there was no word. All I knew was that this person wanted to kill me. That was his mission, and he had the power to make it so. But at the same time, I knew I had the power to defy him. I was no longer the lost little girl who showed up one day on a strange world. I am the chosen of the white sun's zenith; I am the planeswalker chosen by righteous destiny; I am the greatest hope of Terra-Fausta; and I am not going to die today.

Lavonia's words echoed in my head, "_In future battles there will be no such comfort of surrender. Doing so means surrendering your life to the enemy."_ I reached to my sheath and drew Kenziner, slowly and defiantly. I turned my body sideways and held my blade with both hands, pointing over my shoulder and directly at my enemy. "No, black order fiend. You will come to _me._"

I swear I could _hear_ the smile cross Avidoz's decrepit face. "How many times I have seen this? The eyes of defiance. Oh how defiant they still will be once I pluck them out of your skull!"

Avidoz at once began charging mana. I was taken aback at his mana flow. It was both black and white. He harnessed the powers of life _and_ death. I responded as I focused my mana into Kenziner. And then Avidoz charged forward. He flew over the ground as his scythe rounded his shoulder and streamed for my head. I used the length of Kenziner's blade to deflect the blow, but I was still knocked back several feet. His physical strength was quite deceiving. He immediately followed with his first spell. "Doomed Traveler!" A wandering white pilgrim came to his side and stood by for his orders.

"Pride Guardian!" was my response. A cat monk wielding a sturdy staff appeared before me. He didn't have the power to destroy the traveler, which was good, I did not want it to turn into a spirit. I was not done there. "Archon of Justice!" From the sky came a white archon atop a winged stallion; his sword raised, ready for battle. I charged Avidoz, Kenziner held at the ready. There was more than one way to kill a planeswalker; he would fall to my blade. Avidoz sent his traveler to stop me, but my pride guardian intercepted him. The two clashed; the collision of their wooden weapons cracking in my ears. I felt a sudden rush of warmth inside me. Fresh oxidized blood quickened through my body. _whenever pride guardian blocks, you gain three life _was my thought.

Avidoz was in my sights. As soon as I was in range, I did a quick step to my right, leaving Kenziner in my left hand. Putting Avidoz between my body and my blade ensured he could not avoid my strike. Using my momentum, I swung Kenziner upwards, right towards his throat. I swear my sword was an inch away from his body when he shouted, "Stave off!"

I was hurled backwards by the force of the spell. I flew fifteen feet in the air as the sky seemed to become the ground. "Archon!" my beautiful creature plucked me out of midair and I flew along side him on his mount. "Attack!" We hurtled toward our target, both our swords raised.

"Bloodgift Demon!" was Avidoz's response. A pitch black demon of evil appeared and collided with my Archon. I leapt off in just a moment's time as the two creatures destroyed each other in a flurry of claws and steel. "Undying evil!" Normally, the demon would have died, but due to that spell, it defied that particular circumstance. A sinister rune burned into it's forehead as it let out a howl of blood-chilling power.

I was not afraid. Avidoz had committed a fatal error. I'm sure he of all people knew what happened when you killed Archon of Justice. I pointed my finger at Avidoz and said slowly and confidently, "Avidoz, you are exiled." The ghost of the Archon rushed from my body. The phantasmal creature raised it's sword, all set to take Avidoz to oblivion.

But nothing happened. Archon's ghost passed right through his body, leaving Avidoz whole and sound. The shock obviously shown on my face, for Avidoz simply cackled. "Come now, little angel, do you really think such a simple power would do me in?" he wasted no time resuming the battle. "Altar's Reap!" His doomed traveler instantly died; it became a flying spirit. Avidoz laughed as the sudden rush of spell knowledge washed over his brain. He sent his Bloodgift Demon to attack me. I raised my blade in the best defense I could, but the force of the demon's blow still knocked me to the ground.

I skid several feet before I can recover. I stand up and watched Avidoz advance towards me. "So, little angel, is that the best you can offer me?"

No, it wasn't. Avidoz sent his demon after me. It spread it's wings wide as it took flight for my throat. I raised Kenziner to the sky and shouted, "Entreat the angels!" A wondrous light bloomed from the sky. It happened again. That wonderfully effortless casting of a demanding spell. In my moment of desperation, the first spell that came to mind was the easiest to cast.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

A chorus of shining angels descended from the heavens. I poured more and more of my mana into the spell, calling countless angels to my side. When I was finally tapped out, I had an army of heaven's messengers to command. The demon was still in flight, but was instantly waylaid by my angels as they cut it out of the sky. Avidoz seemed simply amused by all of this. He looked upon my angelic force with no discernable urgency. He gathered black mana as he shouted, "Life's Finale!"

"NO!" My scream meant nothing. Spiderwebs of cold white tensile erupted from the earth, ensnaring every creature on the battlefield. My angels screamed in muffled pain as they were enveloped in the white strands and their bodies constricted. The webs turned to white stone and everything was still for a moment. I could still see their forms encased in the stone prison. And then the stone shattered, leaving behind only shards of angels and demons.

The only solace was that Avidoz had lost his creatures as well, so now we were back at square one. Avidoz regarded me for a moment. "Your skills are more impressive than I gave you credit for. However, the end has come." He raised his hand to the sky, "Come to me, Elesh Norn!"

He was trying to summon a Praetor! It was a massive spell, it would take time to charge. Surely he knew this? I did not hesitate, I raised Kenziner and charged. But Avidoz was ready. He cut off his mana flow and evaded my strike. He crouched low and swung the hard hilt of his weapon into the right side of my stomach. It was a calculated blow, right to my liver. All the breath left my body as I crumpled to my knees. My legs wouldn't respond as I desperately tried to draw air into my lungs. Avidoz raised his scythe, ready to reap my head. I was blinded by the gleam of sunlight off the curved steel blade. "Goodbye, little angel," he growled. He swung his weapon down…but the arrow that suddenly pierced his chest arrested his stroke.

I rolled backwards and regained my feet. Tracing the trajectory of the arrow, I found a lone figure standing on a nearby rooftop. "Well, hello there!" boomed a strong male voice. He leapt from the roof and landed squarely beside me. He looked to Avidoz and chuckled. "Well now, can't have you killing off our little friend here," he said cheerfully. "From what I've been hearing, she's quite important around here."

Avidoz growled in frustration and reached for the arrow in his chest. Upon grasping the shaft, he withdrew his hand as a crackle of mana shocked his fingers. "What manner of trick is this?" It was amazing that he seemed relatively unharmed.

"Enchanted that one myself," said my companion. "Couldn't pull it out if you wanted to." Avidoz resumed his battle stance and began charging mana. "Oh, still frisky are we?" My new ally began charging his own mana. I immediately recognized the green aura about him. And although his power was impressive, I sensed no spark within him; he was not a planeswalker. "Gradorian Howlfang!" A grey-coated wolf appeared before him. But this was no ordinary wolf. It stood on it's two hind legs and was well taller than both of us. It wore light iron armor on it's chest and legs and wielded fortified steel gauntlet-claws on it's arms. I realized that this must be a creature unique to Terra-Fausta, for I couldn't begin to recognize it.

I decided to follow his lead while we had Avidoz off balance. "Angel of Jubilation!" In a swirl of feathers, my winged angel descended to the battlefield and took up her sword and shield.

My ally armed his hunter's bow and I readied Kenziner. Our creatures stood poised for combat. We had the advantage. "How about it, mate? Still want to go?" Said the green mage.

Avidoz lowered his weapon, sensing defeat. He chuckled low in his throat and said slowly, "How cute. The conviction of the…righteous. I will leave for today, but know this, little angel. I am hunting you. There is no move you can make that I will not know about. You shall be dealt with."

I met Avidoz's declaration with one of my own. "No, you scourge, we are hunting _you_. Run back to your hell and tell your masters that the white order will not rest until every last one of you are wiped from this plane."

Avidoz turned slowly and vanished from sight. I looked to my new partner. "I cannot thank you enough for your help, um…"

"Oh, were are my manners?" he said back. He took to one knee with much twirling of his hands. "Wylis, the wanderer, at your service m'lady."

"You were amazing, Wylis. Thank you."

"No thanks needed. Just being in the presence of beautiful young lady is enough for me." He gently kissed the back of my right hand and met my eyes with his wide hazel ones. I guess the word to describe Wylis would be 'Dashing'. He looked to only be a few years older than I was. He had a handsome and clever face and a charm that was hard to deny. He being a wielder of magic as well; he was more than certainly popular amongst women, was my guess.

"Tell me, Wylis, do you hail from this town?" I asked him.

A look of slight disappointment crossed his face for a moment. Perhaps because I had not reacted to his compliment as he hoped I would. He was probably used to making women swoon on command. "No m'lady, not from here. I hail from far to the east, from the princedom of Grador; home of the sunpetal bloom."

Grador, another prefecture of Terra-Fausta. I still had a lot to see. With Avidoz and his ghastly presence gone from my mind, I began to pick up on something else. Something familiar, accompanied by a many other small flickers. I turned to Wylis, who smiled back as he put his gloved fingers in his teeth and gave a sharp whistle. And from the west gate, came the parade of townsfolk. It was a wonderful scene; men, women, children, and the elderly, all returning to their rightful dwelling.

"It was my plan, actually," Wylis said. "They had actually returned from exile quite some time ago, but I felt the spark of that fiend and ordered them to stay back until we could drive him off."

"Brilliant," I said. And then, just as the last of the townsfolk had cleared the gate, I saw someone else. Someone who had been absent from my side for longer than I could bear. I ran to him, through the townsfolk and into his arms.

"So good to see you, Angell," Gideon said.

I squeezed his neck with my arms and sobbed joyful tears. "You big jerk," I said. "Why didn't you come back to help us?"

"I could not," was Gideon's answer. "Spells of that nature do not allow a return from exile until the caster's presence has been dispelled."

Always so logical. But it didn't matter, I finally had him back; my guiding light; my hero; my…I felt heat rush into my face as I started thinking those thoughts again.

The next day was a wonderful blur. Before the arrival of the duskhunter bats, and Jeriah's intervention, The town of Tasla was in the middle of a celebration; the anniversary of it's founding. Food, wine, and high spirits flowed in excess as the townsfolk danced and sang joyously. There were many toasts and honors. Wylis was praised for his efforts against Avidoz and for keeping the townsfolk out of danger upon their return. And then there was me. Person after person paid me their respects, honors, and thanks. Finally, Wylis jumped atop a table and boomed out, "A cheer for the angel of prophecy! May the black order be washed in the light of the daybreaker!" An enormous cry went up from the village. I actually didn't hate the title. Angell, the daybreaker. It had a ring to it.

We spent the night in the village inn. We all had separate rooms this time as the inn was actually open. I took a long warm bath as I let the water and today's events wash over me. The victory was thrilling; we were beating the black order, but we still had a long, long way to go. Avidoz's words rang in my head. _I am hunting you. You shall be dealt with._ I sank up to my eyeballs in the water. He said he was watching my every move. Could he see me now? I was being hunted; I was in mortal danger every waking second. I was wary, but not afraid. Let him come to me, and we'll settle what we started. I got out of the tub, dried myself, and took the time to give my traveling dress a good wash. I hung it over a chair to dry and crawled into bed in just my under garments. Despite my accelerated state of mind, sleep came on quickly.

I had the dream again. The man holding the magic sword that spoke to me. This time, even more of his usually silent words came through. "My beloved Angell." There was a pause, even though his mouth was still moving. "…someone you thought was a friend…all I can give you…farewell…my…dau…" I was awake and staring into sunlight. I found I hadn't moved at all from my original position. I must have slept like a rock. I pulled my dress on again and frowned to find it still slightly damp. I retrieved Kenziner and left the room. Gideon and Wylis were already downstairs, pouring over the rations they had apparently gathered this morning.

"Well good morning, lovely Angell!" Wylis chimed. Did he ever stop flirting?

"Wylis has agreed to join our cause," Gideon said.

"Excellent," I replied. We needed all the allies we could get. Speaking of which… "Has anyone seen Jeriah lately? I thought he would be at the party; he having saved the townsfolk and all."

"Wouldn't count on his help if I were you. That guy, Jeriah…not a big fan of people," Was Wylis' response.

Let him do what he wants; it's no concern of mine. So we packed up our gear and made our way out of Tasla. We bid farewell to the people as they wished us luck and many blessings on our journey. It felt good to be moving again as we left the village gates. But, no sooner than we set foot on the road, I felt it. Gideon pulled up to an abrupt stop as well. Wylis looked at both of us questioningly. He was not a planeswalker, his sense was not as keen as ours, and right now I could sense… "The black order again."

"It's coming from the north," Gideon added. And in no time at all we were flying over the plains. Me and Wylis on my stormfront Pegasus, and Gideon on his trusty griffon, on our way to assault the black order once again.

*End of chapter 9*


	10. Chapter 10

*Chapter 10*

Saints paced the carpeted floor of his ornate chamber. Though he was restless, he was careful to measure his footfalls at least somewhat, as not to disturb his sleeping lover. He paused for just a moment to look at his bloodthrone on the bed; laying on her side, her crimson lips parted slightly in sleep; the moon's rays playing wonderfully on her smooth pale skin. Saints smiled inwardly; what a beautiful thing he had.

Despite his feelings at that particular moment, it was the attention of another woman he craved dearly; that of his mistress, Liliana. He had not received her call in quite some time, this fact causing his current bout of wakefulness. He fully dressed himself in his dark nobleman shift, complete with long flowing cloak, in anticipation of actually leaving the room. But as of now, something gave him pause. Perhaps there was a reason for this respite; something that Liliana knew that he did not. Saints remembered his mistress's cruel tongue and almost thought better than to intrude on her privacy. Almost.

Finally leaving the room, he headed swiftly down the dark corridors of the silent castle. He descended the main staircase and found two vampiress servants waiting at the door. They asked if perhaps their lord needed any assistance. He silently waved them off. He left the castle and headed across the grounds. The forever night air offered no relief to the slight sweat Saints had worked up on his way here. These cotton clothes were heavy, and his futile wish for a breeze would never come to be. The air around this place never seemed to move. Not once could he remember the limbs of the dark forest swaying with the breeze.

Following the spark of his mistress, he found his way to the rich tea garden. Rounding a pair of wildflower bushes, he finally found her. She was seated easily on a marble bench, her legs crossed, reading a small book. Three vampiress servants surrounded her, two cooling her immediate air with large feathered fans, and a third at Liliana's feet holding a bowl with a selection of ripe fruit. Upon seeing Saints approaching, the fruit bearer hastily made way. Saints stood in front of his mistress and then quickly took to one knee, his head bowed to the ground. For the longest time, Liliana paid him no audience. She simply kept her ice blue eyes to sweeping the pages of her small leather book, leaving Saints with nothing but an ache in is neck and a need for acknowledgement.

Liliana closed her book and sighed somewhat contently. Saints knew he was in line for this humiliation, and dared make no effort to attract her attention. She made a motion with her hand, perhaps finally calling for Saints to rise, but no, she simply beckoned the fruit bearer over. She chose a particularly plump strawberry and popped it in her mouth. It was then and only then that she seemed to realize that Saints was there. Her throat worked in swallowing before she finally said, "What is it?" she did not say this kindly.

Saints lifted his head, but did not leave the ground. "Mistress, Liliana-"

"I know my own name, boy," she said ,swiftly cutting him off. "Do not feather me with your pleasantries. What do you want?"

"I have not heard word from you for some time now. I want to know if there is anything I can do to please my mistress again," Saints responded.

"You are not needed as of now. Leave me," Liliana said simply.

Saints knew better than to argue, the back of his mind told him so, but he couldn't seem to help himself. "Mistress, please. Surely there is-"

"You are not needed as of now. _Leave me_," was Liliana's ice-like response. Saints obeyed and left the garden. So many nameless emotions swirled inside him, but one in particular rose to the top.

Anger.

What had he done to deserve this? Then he knew it's what he _hadn't_ done that brought his mistress's indifference upon him. He hadn't killed Angell. Saints clenched his teeth at the thought. If he had just exterminated that little bitch from the onset none of this would have happened. She was the cause for this, and he also knew that her existence was making it harder for him to track the black sun's zenith; his blessed idol of power.

It was then that he formed his plan. He knew Angell was a problem, but she was one easily solved. He wanted to do something to cripple her. An act from which she could not recover; something that would leave her scarred and broken. He knew what to do. He pulled his heavy hood over his head, took a step forward and melted into the air.

…...

Flying. I could get used to the feeling. The incredible view of everything below, the pleasant dew that clung to your body after flying through a cloud, immediately cooled by the rush of moving air. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life; all this diminished of course, by the fact that we were off to launch an assault on the black order.

Me, Wylis, and Gideon were making our way due north, on the trail of the presence of a dark aura we had felt some time ago. "Hey, are we going to be there, you know, anytime soon?" Wylis said from his seat behind me. I got the distinct feeling that Wylis had never flown before, and was highly uncomfortable doing so. Me and Gideon shared a laugh. I found my eyes resting on him for just a little too long and I hastily averted my gaze forward.

And then suddenly, I felt it again. The aura we were chasing, only much stronger this time. We were getting close. "There!" Gideon pointed to a sprawl of buildings just below us. Our creatures descended gracefully to the ground and we dismounted. Wylis seemed happy to finally have his feet firmly on the ground again. I patted my Pegasus's neck and gave her a word of thanks before I dispelled her. We looked to the buildings before us in wonder. "Lu-Restia, third ruling city of Terra-Fausta," Gideon said.

While the two cities we've previously visited were large, Lu-Restia was certainly the grandest of them all. It spread out before us for what seemed like forever, and there were other things to note. For one, all of the buildings had an aqua blue tint to them, I'm not quite sure what this meant, but we'll more than likely find out once we enter the gates. The buildings also formed a somewhat unusual shape; something like a crescent that was arching towards us, or rather, around something.

The aura we felt earlier was even more intense now, here before the gates of the city. There was nothing left now but to track it down and eliminate it. I started off towards the gates and soon realized my companions had not joined me. I turned to them in question. "What is the matter?" I said.

Wylis chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before answering. "Lu-Restia…not exactly a safe haven for mages."

"What do you mean?"

"The inhabitants of this city remember all too well the days of the Illuminati, and do not exactly take kindly to mages," Gideon added.

Oh, right. For a while, I had forgotten of Terra-Fausta's history, what with all the fighting and all. But then an idea occurred to me. "Remember what you said, Gideon, about hiding the mages in Lu-Perral? As long we exhibit no magic, we are impossible to tell from normal humans?"

"Yes, and I'm sure it will be _so_ easy to disguise our magic when we're here expressly to kill a sect of the black order," Wylis muttered.

Oh yeah. That.

With that said, I wasn't so sure what our approach should be. This was going to be harder than we thought. But one thing was certain, we weren't going to find them standing out here all day. "Let's get inside. From there I guess we'll have to wing it," I said. Both Gideon and Wylis squinted their eyes at me in question. "I mean make it up as we go along." I've got to stop using earth terms around here.

So we finally entered the gates of the blue city. And upon taking in the city folk for the first time, they did not seem much different from any other person we've encountered already. We would just have to be sure to keep our magic well disguised. My thought then, of course, was just how we were going to go about finding these fiends. They were definitely in this city, their presence was growing stronger all the time. But I somehow doubted they were just going to come out of hiding just because we were here. On that note, how have they managed to stay hidden in this city for so long? Everyone on Terra-Fausta knew the black order was active. But it wasn't like we could simply go around asking people about them. That would be a pleasant conversation, "_Hi there! We're trying to track down the presence of a murderous black order mage hiding in your city. Could you point them out to us please?"_

We stopped in front of the door of city's inn amongst the crowded city square. Wylis suggested that we split up, in order to cover more ground, mostly to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the city. Because it was immediately apparent that the black order was not going to blatantly reveal themselves here, at least not now. So we agreed to convene back here at sunset. Gideon and Wylis took off in either direction, and I opted to stay in the square for a while longer.

I wandered this way and that taking in the sights and the sounds. The people were very friendly, bidding me greetings that I jovially returned. They seemed alright to me, as long as I didn't try to blow them up with a spell or something. Though I did notice a few people, mostly parents with young children, giving Kenziner somewhat nervous glances. You think these people would have seen a sword before, but I guess it was something of a red flag to them, seeing as only two kinds of people carried swords, warriors and mages…or warrior-mages. The city square was lined with tiny shops stands and kiosks, it felt like the multiverse version of a strip mall. Unfortunately, I had no money. Sigh.

I wandered over to a sweets stand and looked over the selection. Some of the items looked as if they had come from home; tiny rolls glazed in honey, crunchy cookies sprinkled with colored sugar, and yes, they even had frosted cupcakes. Many small children with their mothers flocked around the stand, flush with the excitement that sweets could only bring out of children. A young boy of maybe five or six reached out his small hand and grabbed a cookie. He took a huge crunchy bite and was immediately scolded by his mother, for now she had to pay for the impromptu treat. He looked up to me with mouth covered in crumbs and seemed to become stone still.

I smiled down at him. "Hello there. How are you?" I said sweetly.

The boy didn't answer for a moment, his words seemingly halted by wonderment. And then he finally said, "Are you an angel?"

I blinked, just slightly surprised. "What would make you think that?" I said with a smile.

"Because you carry a sword. And…you're beautiful."

"Awww, thank you."

"Do you have wings?" he asked me.

"No, nothing like that," I said back. The boy's mother was pulling him away from the stand. As they walked away, the boy turned his head around and stared at me until they were hidden by the mass of humanity. '_Nice kid'_ I thought to myself. As there wasn't much happening in this part of the city, I decided to broaden my search. I continued down the street taking in the sights. The blue buildings were mesmerizing, I'm still not sure if it was paint or the natural color of the material that gave them that hue. Though my guard had somewhat lessened in the face of no obvious threat, I was still sure to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, the dark aura was still quite prevalent.

The hours passed with no emergence of any danger. I had just reached the inner most part of the city, the center of the crescent. And I began to pick up on something. The smell of sea salt on the air, the roar of the ocean's waves. So that's what the city was built around, the coastline. I approached the edge of the bluff, which had a metal handrail around it, for the obvious reasons. The fading orange sunlight shimmered magnificently on the rolling waves, the cool breeze coming of them. "Quite a view isn't it?"

I turned to see Wylis and Gideon approaching me. Apparently they had worked their way through the city here as well. "It's breath taking," I sighed.

"Now we know why all the buildings are blue," Wylis said. "Poor color choice if you ask me. I dare say this place could do with a little green to it." spoken like a green mage.

"Did you find anything?" I asked Gideon.

He shook his head. "The black order is keeping quite a low profile. This search of ours may take some time."

We looked out on the ocean in silence for a while. Then Wylis spoke up. "I've been thinking," he said. Me and Gideon looked to him. "Maybe we need a name for this little troop of ours."

"Really?" said Gideon. "And for what reason?"

"Just to liven things up, mate! And an official title would say we really mean business!"

"A name huh…" I looked out onto the ocean and it became clear to me at once. "We'll call ourselves…" They looked to me as I let my sentence hang for a moment. "…The wizards of the coast."

They both nodded in agreement. Gideon chuckled, "Sounds good to me," he said.

"Just about right," Wylis said. He gave a huge stretch and yawn. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty bushed. I'll go turn in and we'll deal with these black order cowards in the morning." Wylis left for the inn, leaving me alone with Gideon.

Me alone with Gideon.

He joined me at the railing and looked out onto the ocean. My heart rate seemed to triple as my mind wandered to that place again. I know Gideon wasn't stupid, not by a long shot. But was he observant? Surely he must know? All the stolen glances, how I blush every time he looks me in the eye, even when I chose to curl up next to him on the floor of the inn in Tasla. Surely he must have some inkling of how I felt about him. Or did he? I have to remember that he is a planeswalker, a solitary animal. All the years of traveling between planes, all the battles…maybe he grew beyond the need for companionship.

But I refused to believe it.

"Our search is not going as well as we anticipated," Gideon said. "We may have to resort to more extreme methods to draw the black order out."

There he goes again, all business. But that's what I like about him. That, and just about everything else. But he gives me an idea on how to start my approach. "There are other things to look for as well, you know," I said.

"Such as?" was Gideon's response.

In answer, I slid a little closer to him, still keeping my eyes firmly locked on the ocean. "All kinds of things…" I said a little vaguely. By this time, I'm sure he knew what was coming. I turned full around to him. I looked up into his clear brown eyes, reflecting the ocean's glimmer and the sun's last rays. I could feel the blood rush in my ears as my heart jumped to my throat. There was only one move left to make. I rested my hands on his shoulders, raised myself on my tip toes, and I kissed him.

The pressure of his lips was exhilarating. A wonderful heat spread throughout my body, and just for a moment, I forgot the world existed. I finally pulled away and rested my head on his chest. Gideon made no move nor sound during all this. No waves of mutual affection arose from him, which didn't surprise me. His nature wouldn't allow for it. He was a planeswalker, known throughout the multiverse as a legendary lone wolf heiromancer, and here I was, a silly little girl who had fallen in love with him. I couldn't help the silent tears that rolled down my face. I took a step back, careful to keep my eyes on the ground and said, "Let's get back to the inn." Gideon nodded his agreement and we headed back.

The trip back through the city was uneventful as night fell over the world. Only a few night workers were out now, keeping the large candles in the street lights lit. we arrived at the inn's door and we both stopped dead. Ours minds were again assaulted by the dark aura, only this time it seemed to have increased ten-fold. The sheer immediacy of it was making my flesh run cold. Me and Gideon ran to the center of the square to better gauge it's whereabouts. Then I realized, this wasn't the same aura we were chasing. This was much too intense. We were sensing a spark, a cold, death-bringing spark. "Gideon! I thinks it's-" my words were cut off by the appearance of the spark's bearer. He materialized before us with a fluttering of his dark cloak. I knew who this was. It was our ultimate enemy. _My_ ultimate enemy.

It was Saints.

He flung his dark hood back over his head and bared his teeth at me in absolute hatred. "You will_ not_ get away from me this time!" he cried. And he launched himself for my throat.

*End of Chapter 10*


	11. Chapter 11

*Chapter 11*

He moved quickly; more quickly than my simple human reflexes could possibly track. In a flash of black he knocked me to the ground and pinned my arms under his knees. Kenziner dug painfully into my shoulder blades as I cried out. I looked up into Saints' eyes. My immediate wish was that I hadn't. What I saw there, was unlike anything I've seen before. There was hardly anything human about his gaze, the gleam of humanity was lost to some mania-driven severity. In his mind, I'm sure he _needed_ to do this.

Suddenly, there was another flash, and the weight of the dark planeswalker was lifted from me. I sprung to my feet and saw that Gideon had come to my aid. "Angell," he said. "This is the one you…"

"Yes. It's _him_," I confirmed to him. I drew Kenziner and adopted my fighting stance. Saints was definitely here for something, what it was I'm sure we would find out not too long from now.

Saints, not unlike some kind of animal, was on his hands and knees. He was muttering something under his breath and he looked to be shuddering. My heart was pierced by a sudden thorn of grief. My best friend…what had the black order done to him? "Jura…" he growled. He fixed Gideon with a dark-as-midnight gaze. "You will do…" The power of his spark intensified as he shuddered more violently. His eyes completely blacked over, the whites seemingly lost in the dilation of pupils.

I moved to engage him before his power could grow anymore, but Gideon halted my progress with an outstretched arm. "Stay back, Angell. it's me he wants." Gideon calmly produced his Sural and slowly approached Saints.

"Gideon if you think I'm going to stand by and let you fight him alone, then you are mistaken," I said.

Gideon turned to look at me. There was something about the way he looked at me, it carried some sort of sadness and finality. Though his voice was even when he spoke, I could see the emotional maelstrom in his eyes. "I don't think you'll have much of a choice."

What did he mean? Why would he say that? Surprised confusion kept me rooted to the spot, but it was only when Gideon turned his back did the realization come over me. He charged at Saints, his Sural held high, white mana exploding from his body. Saints snapped back to his feet in an instant, and in the very split second before their sparks collided, they both vanished.

I ran to the spot that once held the two planeswalkers, which now only held empty air. I sank to my knees as tears escaped my eyes. "Gideon…what have you done?" It seemed then that my need for him intensified. I realized how much I needed him at my side; how empty and savage the world seemed without him; and how much I loved him. Then I knew that maybe we weren't so far apart after all. I closed my eyes and cleared my head. And in the depths of my mind I could feel them. They were still on Terra-Fausta, engaged in terrible conflict. All I had to do was hone in on their sparks. A local planeswalk should be no trouble for me.

I was all set to depart when there was the sudden rush of footfalls and the metallic clinks and clanks of armor and weapons being readied. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded.

The whole of Lu-Restia's peace keeping unit had descended on me; there were easily over two hundred of them, standing in a formidable circle around me, with more still pouring in from the streets and ally ways. "On your feet, NOW!" barked the apparent leader. "And don't think you can fight your way out of this, mage-bane. We've all hex-proof armor and enchanted munitions at the ready!" The part about the enchanted armaments unsettled me. I remembered Gideon's words: '_People are not without their ironies'_

I slowly, very slowly got to my feet, clutching Kenziner in my right hand. My eyes swept over the force before me taking in the spears, swords, and bows all primed in my direction. I sheathed Kenziner and slowly put my hands in the air. I tried to look and sound as disarming as possible, after all, I was not really their enemy. "Please," I said to all of them. "I am not your enemy. I fight in the name of peace; in the name of the white order-"

"Silence!" roared the peacekeeper captain. "It matters not who you fight for. You evil wielder of magic, you will meet your end as _I_ see fit!"

There was obviously no talking him out of this, but I was far from worried. All I had to do was take a tiny step forward and be gone from here in a flash. I focused my mind again on Gideon's spark, but found something that blocked my attempt. I knew what it was. It was the dark aura that we originally followed to this city, but it was much nearer this time…very near.

"Everyone, listen!" the captain barked at me to remain silent, but I needed to warn them. "Please! There is a great threat approaching! If you don't act now-"

It was too late.

Before he could give another order, the captain's head was separated from his shoulders. A ripple of alarm went through the unit as the man's body slunk to the ground and writhed in it's final involuntary spasms. And then just as quickly, another man was decapitated, then another, and then another. Panicked screams rose from the soldiers as many of them turned to flee. Blood and bodies littered the square as the invisible force killed scores of men. Kenziner was in my hands as I whirled around desperately trying to pinpoint the invisible killer before they targeted me.

And finally, when the last of those lucky enough to have escaped cleared the square, the assailant finally revealed themselves. In a blur of black they appeared about ten yards from my position. It was a woman, her dark aura pulsated viciously. She wore a slim black cloak that fit easily over her light leather armor. And then I saw her weapons. Wrist-mounted gauntlet blades, four feet in length and dripping with crimson. She turned her sly, calculating face to me and said, "At last we meet, angel of destiny."

I regarded her coolly as I said, "So, you're the one we've been chasing all this time? All finished playing hide and seek?" I adopted a nonchalantly superior tone, letting her know that her little show of mass murder hadn't unnerved me at all, when really I was planning to make her pay for each of those deaths a dozen times over.

The woman carelessly pushed a lock of her blood-red hair from her forehead. "My hiding was no act of cowardice, I can assure you that," she said. "I was not to reveal myself until the appearance of our chosen."

"Chosen?"

"Your beloved counterpart; the chosen of the black sun; the night fallen saint!" She said this with a kind of memorized reverence that made me believe she'd been waiting all her life to say that. "He will awaken the power of the zenith and rid this plane of all the undeserving rats that inhabit it!"

I stared a hole through this woman as I said, "Who are you?"

"I am Koldane, the duskhunter" she said.

Something went off in my mind. "Duskhunter…so that was _you_ who sent those bats."

"Guilty," Koldane shrugged. "You made such quick work of my lovely creatures, even though you weren't the intended target."

"Yes," I said. "And on behalf of the people of Tasla, I will be more than happy to end your life here and now." I began charging white mana into Kenziner.

Koldane began charging her own mana and managed to produce the first spell. "Child of night!" A dark haired vampiress appeared at her side and bared her glinting fangs.

"Accorder paladin!" was my first spell. As the armored soldier appeared before me, I unleashed my next spell. "Honor of the pure!" The familiar golden light enveloped my creature as he steeled himself for battle.

Koldane seemed slightly amused as she called her next creature. "Vampire outcasts!" A pair of ragged vampire nobles appeared at the ready. She sent forth her child of night and quickly followed after it.

I raised Kenziner and charged to meet her. My paladin and the night child had just engaged each other as I cast my next spell on the run. "Skillful lunge!" Granted the first strike, my paladin cut down the night child before she could even lift a finger. Not breaking stride, I continued my charge for Koldane. I swung back Kenziner and slashed for her throat. Koldane easily evaded my strike as she dance gracefully out of range. She sent her vampire outcasts after me and followed with an instant spell.

"Sorin's thirst!" I was brought to a halt by a red hot prickling in my neck. The spell had left two deep puncture wounds there. Hot blood ran down my throat and the outcasts honed in on it. Driven to a frenzy by the sight of fresh blood, they charged ever faster. Luckily for me, their blood thirst robbed them of what little intelligence they had. They failed to remember that they were charging at someone who held a seven-foot sword in their hands.

I waited until they were just in range and in one easy sweep, cut both of their heads off. Their bodies crumpled to the ground as they disintegrated into piles of burning ash. I looked to the vampiric night-mage. "Really, that's the best you have?"

Koldane sized me up with a narrowed glance and, never moving her eyes from mine, she raised her arm and pointed at my paladin. "Deathmark," she said. My paladin was destroyed instantly. "No. That is not the best I have. I was just after a little fun with you before I ended your life." Koldane flicked her arms out and her gauntlet blades sprung with a metallic shriek. "And now, playtime is over." she took a step backwards and disappeared. My eyes darted everywhere around but could see no trace of her. I could still feel her aura so I knew she was still here. My thoughts raced back to the men seemingly decapitated by nothing and no one and my heart rate tripled.

'Where is she? Where is she?' my mind raced along with my thoughts as I whirled on the spot. And then I turned around and there she was, poised to strike. Her right arm drawn back to skewer me through the throat. This seemed to happen on slow motion, though I knew she was moving faster than my reflexes could track. By the time I raised Kenziner, I knew it would be too late.

And just as quickly as she appeared, her head recoiled and she slumped to the ground, lifeless. I found myself again whirling on the spot, trying to pinpoint who it was that just saved my life. And there, in the shadow of the inn's doorway, was Wylis. I should have known. He relaxed his bow and descended the stairs to my position. This was the second time he saved me, and I had a wonderfully breathless speech of thanks for him. I opened my mouth and said, "Dude, you have _got_ to work on your timing."

"Better late than never, I always say," Wylis chattered. He stooped down besides the lifeless Koldane. His arrow had caught her right through the eye. "Definitely one of my better shots, if I don't say so myself." He turned to me and smiled mischievously. "That makes twice now I've saved your hide. I'm feeling like you owe me something."

"Maybe later," I said, raising my head to the sky. I could still feel Gideon and Saints in the edge of my mind; I needed to get to them. "Wylis, you stay here and-" my attention was diverted by movement on the edges of the square. All around us, figures began to emerge from the dark. Me and Wylis put our backs together and readied our weapons, anticipating more threats. But as they drew closer I could see that, instead of monsters, we were surrounded by city folk. They stared at us through timid and dumbfounded eyes, as though they hardly dared to believe what they were seeing.

"Think we got more trouble?" Wylis whispered to me.

I lowered my weapon in response. "I doubt they will cause us any harm now." My mind was drawn back to the battle between Gideon and Saints. Was I imagining it, or did Gideon's spark seem somehow…dimmer? I had wasted enough time here. "Wylis, stay with the people here, explain to them what just happened here, and what they're seeing now."

Wylis turned to me. "Why? Where are you going?"

I took a moment before answering. "To see if I can save someone I love." I took a step forward, and was lost in the flow of time.

*End of chapter 11*


	12. Chapter 12

*Chapter 12*

There was a sound. More sudden, more violent, and more terrible than the mightiest peal of thunder. And from this sound, two men emerged. One was a white mage. A heiromancer; a denizen of the white order. Upholder of all that is judicious and true. His name was Gideon Jura. The other; a black mage. A toximancer; a servant of the black order. Wielder of decay and famine and sacrifice. His name was Saints.

And one of them was going to die.

The sudden concussion of clashing mana upon their appearance here forced the two a good ways apart. Now, staring each other in the eye across the battle field, they each sized up the other, fathoming the effort it would possibly take to vanquish the opponent. There was not only animosity in their gazes, but a special, if not forlorn kind of intensity. Planeswalkers were, at heart, savage beings. Guided by the plight of their sparks, they instinctually seek out challenges that are greater than themselves. If the possibility of death is high, or all but certain, their sparks will flare, guiding them, with a certain compulsion, into the heart of the fray.

Gideon, not being one to wait on his opponent, opted to charge the black mage, his Sural held ready. Saints raised his hands, preparing a response spell, but Gideon acted quicker. "Mighty Leap!" A spark of white mana sent him skywards. He gained incredible momentum as he descended like a bolt on the head of his opponent. Saints easily glided out of harm's way.

"Come now, Jura," he hissed. "Show me what you can _really_ do."

Gideon obliged with an intake of breath. "Come to me, my law keeper!" Gideon's trusted aid appeared by his side, ready to heed his master's command.

Saints chuckled wryly. "Phyrexian Crusader!" A tainted knight of the black order appeared. He readied his poison-edged sword and bellowed a war cry. Saints then charged Gideon. He moved with a soundless grace that could only be mustered by a truly unholy child of the dark. He readied a poison-tipped needle; of which he kept a supply in special spring-loaded gauntlets on the underside of his wrists; and made for Gideon's throat.

Gideon responded with a calm that could only come from the trials of many an accomplished battle. "Angelic Wall!" A being of pure holy energy sprung into being right in Saint's path. "Law keeper!" he bellowed. Gideon's law keeper twirled his whip and lashed it around Saints, trapping him in a magical binding.

"Go, crusader!" Saints cried. The dark knight charged Gideon with a howl. Gideon moved his wall to stop the creature, but the crusader burst right through it. Saints read the look of shock on Gideon's face and cackled, "Nothing in your little white order arsenal can possibly stop my crusader." he took a deep breath and shouted "Doom blade!" A vacuum of black energy rushed from his body and tore the Angelic wall in two. Saints was released from his binding. The crusader, his path unhindered, tore for Gideon. He swung his poisoned sword at the planeswalker, who only just managed to get his arm in the way of the blow.

Gideon staggered backwards and was alarmed to see his gauntlet was smoking and beginning to melt where the creature had struck him. He shrugged off the damaged piece of armor and looked to his forearm. There he saw a mark. An ugly black rune swimming just under the surface of his skin. It pulsed slightly as though it were alive. It was the symbol of Phyrexia.

It was a poison counter.

The battle had taken a turn. Gideon knew he would have to adopt a new tact. He focused white mana into his Sural and lashed it as he cried "Mentor of the Meek!" A young soldier instructor appeared and readied his blade. "Increasing Devotion!" five ordinary humans appeared before him. They were somewhat unremarkable. They wielded pitch fork, rakes, and kitchen knives as their weapons. They were not fighters, but they would do in a pinch. Gideon channeled the rest of his unused mana through his mentor in order to accelerate his spell knowledge. The possibilities spread out before him. He could see the spells just waiting to be cast, but would they do any good against a creature immune to white mana?

Saints seized upon Gideon's hesitation, "Grim affliction!" an ugly black rune appeared upon his law keeper's flesh. It sizzled and burned as he cried in agony and then crumpled into ashes. Saints snapped his fingers and Gideon felt an intense burning again on his exposed forearm. Upon inspection, he found yet another Phyrexian mark scored upon him. "Feeling it yet?" Saints growled.

Gideon steeled his resolve. "Your tricks are many," he said. "But are nothing in the light of divine valor. Now behold! Angelic Overseer!" The heavens parted. And from a ray of glorious cloud-born energy came a divine battle angel. Her blazing sword and shield shone like the purest of moon silver. She spread her splendid white wings and cast her light over the six humans Gideon controlled.

Saints had to shield his eyes from the angel's righteous intensity. He Pointed a blind finger at the angel and shouted, "Doom blade!" The angel deftly raised her shield and fended off the incoming spell. "How is that possible!?" Saints cried.

"The collective conviction of a great many is never to be underestimated. Now go forth my comrades! And fear not pain or death!" The six humans charged Saints with inspired cries of ferocity.

Saints stood calm. These peasants were no threat to him. He charged cold black mana as he shouted, "Ichor Explosion!" His crusader screamed a death wail as it's body contorted and then exploded in a shower of noxious ink-like fluid. The charging humans were doused in the spray of ichor and screamed in blood-curdling agony as their bodies were dissolved as though by acid. Saints then pointed right at Gideon and said "Geth's Verdict!" A sudden tremendous force invaded Gideon's mind; an overwhelming malice that told him over and over again to do one thing: 'Destroy the overseer'. Gideon raised his arm at his angel. He could see the astonished shock in her pupil-less eyes. And with a blast of mana, he destroyed her. And then a wave of blinding black pain raced through his body. He crumbled to one knee as he looked up to see Saints looking across the battle field at him.

The look on his face was plain; it was disgust; disappointment; and loathing. "So this is Gideon Jura? Pathetic." Gideon made to raise himself to his feet, but Saints stayed him with a "Grim Affliction!" Gideon cried in savage pain as the poison marks invaded his flesh, one flaring up just at his throat. "You never had a chance against me, fool," Saints said. "Do you know who I am?" Gideon stared at him in a silent, wounded defiance. "I am the future ruler of this rat hole you call a plane. May you and the rest of the white order be lost in the grip of the Night-fallen" With that, he turned his back and snapped his fingers. His Phyrexian crusader appeared again, no worse for wear. "Kill him," Saints said as he walked away. The crusader raised his weapon and charged.

…...

I was flying, but without physical sensation. I could see all that was around me, but couldn't truly process it's information.

I was planeswalking.

Trees, mountains, and rivers swam around me in a rush of ethereal velocity. It was as though my mind had left my body, and now, unhindered by a physical vessel, was free to realize the true splendor that reality had to offer. My trip was nearing an end as I began to feel what I was searching for. Shapes took form in my mana-rushed mind as I slowly came back to reality. And there, I could see…oh my god….Gideon! I appeared in a sudden rush of realized focus. I was right in front of Gideon. Dear god, what had happened to him? He was badly beaten and was covered in…wait…were those poison marks?! His eyes flared wide open as he saw me for the first time. "Angell!" he cried. His eyes were locked on some apparent threat to my rear. I whirled around and saw a hideous black knight storming in my direction. I drew Kenziner and stood firm. "Angell, no!" Gideon had regained his feet, but he looked tremendously dazed. The poison markers were working their way into his bloodstream. "Fiend, come to me!" he lashed his Sural to get the crusader's attention. "Come to me!"

I knew what he was doing. It was his latent ability to draw the focus of battle onto himself, rather than his allies. "Gideon, stop!" I couldn't let him do this. He was in no shape to fight that creature. The crusader altered it's path and, as though compelled, made strait for Gideon. I knew I could stop it. "Rebuke!" my spell hit the crusader full force in the back…and did nothing. Of course. Protection from white. The next moments lasted forever. The crusader was upon Gideon. It raised it's deadly toxic blade as I screamed in horrified realization. The crusader struck down, drawing no blood, but infusing Gideon's body with enough poison to burn through the world.

Gideon crumbled to the ground and I screamed. A long horror-drawn needle of a shriek that didn't feel as though it could possibly come from my fear-withered lungs. I charged the creature, Kenziner held high. Tears of anger blurred my vision as I struck it. It howled in anguish as it fell to one knee. I stabbed it again, and again, and again. Ichor splattered the ground and I knew the creature to be long dead. I didn't care. I didn't care about anything anymore. Some rabid intensity kept me plunging my blade into the creature over and over. And then I had no strength. I desperately tried drawing air into my lungs, which burned with the effort. And then, I felt their spark. I knew who it was before I even turned around. My eyes fell on that of my best friend; of my worst enemy. Saints. In place of my exhaustion, I could only feel a sudden crippling sadness. Why had he done this? What compelled him to follow these murderous impulses? I knew the answer to both these questions already. But I couldn't stop myself from croaking out a tear-burdened, "…Why?"

Saints looked at me. He looked at me for a long time. And in his gaze, his humanity seemed to return to him. Suddenly he was just the boy I had known since I was eight years old. "You know why," he said simply. "Why would you ask me if you already know the answer?"

"Because I want to hear it from you!" I cried. "I want to know I'm not the only one with a-a…"

"A burden?" Saints said. "A destiny?"

"I don't what to call it anymore," I sobbed. "Why did this happen to us? What makes us so special? Why do we have to destroy each other?"

"It's not up to us to challenge," Saints said with an alarming calm. "It's the zenith's. It's their will."

"FORGET THE ZENITHS!" I screamed. I had broken down in a fresh wave of tears and anguish. I dropped my sword, my arm could seemingly no longer hold it. My next words were barely a pained whisper. "I don't want to destroy you."

Something changed in Saint's face. He bared his teeth at me and suddenly charged forward. I couldn't seem to lift my arms in defense. Saints stopped right before me. He had a poison-tipped needle pointed just at my throat. Seeing me offer no resistance, he relaxed his stance. He looked down at me with suddenly calm eyes. There was what could only be described as pity in his voice when he said, "I don't want you like this." I shook my head slowly. I didn't understand. "I want you when you're ready." he turned his back and took a few steps, then stopped. He turned his head to me said, "Go to him." and then he vanished.

The words echoed in my head as I whirled towards the crumbled shape of Gideon. My stomach seemed to disappear. I literally flew towards him and dropped beside him. He was scored all over with poison marks. I didn't know what to do. He was still breathing, but shallowly. I racked my brain, trying to think of a spell that could reverse the poison's effects. Angel's mercy? No, that only recovered life. Defy Death? No, that wouldn't work on a planeswalker. Tears of frustration ran down my face as I came to the inevitable conclusion. There was no spell that could remove poison markers. There was no way to save him.

Gideon slowly opened his eyes, apparently just that taking great effort. He locked an unfocused gaze on me and gave the smallest of smiles. "Do…not…worry.." he choked. "I believe this…was…was… fated to be."

"No," I said. "Why would fate take you away from me?"

"The prophecy…states-"

"God dammit, Gideon! This is no time to be so damned rational!" I was screaming and crying at the same time.

Gideon closed his eyes, his breathing more sporadic. Black ichor had begun to run the length of his veins. "When one has fallen…judgment…will follow."

Is that what he thought this was? Divine prophetic will? His spark was getting dimmer. I was losing him. "Gideon!" I screamed his name again and again. "_GIDEON!_" I took his hand in mine and I began crying all over again. "Gideon, Please! Please don't go! Please!" The ichor had taken over his bloodstream. "Gideon! I love you! Do you hear me!? I love you!" My cries had fallen on deaf ears.

He was dead.

At this point, I knew I was wrong about not possibly having any more tears to shed. They all burst forth, in a sudden and savage flood. I buried my face in his chest and cried. All the manifestations of grief and terminal despair escaped my lungs. My body was wracked with quaking and unrelenting sobs and shrieks. Nothing had meaning anymore. Life had no purpose. Everything was pointless. I was alone. Not just here in this abandoned field, but in this world entirely. For me, there was nothing left.

And then something happened. From Gideon's body there shone a pinprick of white light. I stared at in tear-blurred wonder as it grew and then enveloped his whole body. I couldn't stand to look into it's intensity. And then all at once, it vanished, and took Gideon's body along with it. And that's when I knew.

He was gone forever.

…...

Liliana stood waiting in the grand foyer of her castle home. She could feel the approaching presence of her pupil, even from this fair distance. And then, with a ripple of dark cloaks, he appeared at her feet. She gazed down at him. "Rise," she said. Saints did so, but did not shy his gaze away. He looked directly into the eyes of his mistress, his eyes blazing with challenge; flush with undeniable triumph. She framed his face in her gloved hands and said, "Well done. Glory belongs to you this day." Saints kept a stone-like face, doing his best to suppress the rush of elation that Liliana's praise brought upon him.

She turned away into the foyer. "Avidoz!" she barked. And in a flash, a ragged man appeared. Saints had never seen him before, and was inwardly alarmed at his appearance. His clothing was completely rotted, and his face hidden by some sack over his head. And, it seemed, that he had an arrow lodged in his chest.

"I obey your call, mistress," the man said.

"Take note, Avidoz," Liliana said. "A great victory has been won today. The white order has been dealt a terrible blow."

"So I have heard," snarled Avidoz. He turned his attention to Saints for the first time. Saints wondered if he could even see him. "Nicely done, little saint." His voice dripped with that of ice-cold sarcasm.

"Enough," Liliana said. She then cocked her head slightly as she noticed the arrow in Avidoz's chest. With no apparent regard to his well- being, or threshold for pain, Liliana unceremoniously freed the arrow with an easy yank of her hand. Avidoz didn't even flinch. "Now is the time for action," she continued. "Both of you will go now to Grador. That is the city that our enemy is closest to, whether she realizes this or not. Do whatever you can to draw her in. But make absolutely sure that she comes to _you_."

"My apologies, mistress," Saints said. "But why is this Grador of any consequence?"

"Grador is home to a unified faction of both white and green order mages. There lies a great source of their power, the sunpetal bloom. Destroy it, and they will be rendered defenseless," was Liliana's response.

"By your command," Avidoz said.

The two dark planeswalkers vanished from the room. Liliana was left alone. As the sparks of her cohorts faded away, another presence came into her mind. This one more powerful. _Much_ more powerful than anything she's ever felt before. She looked to the ornate ceiling, her gaze somewhat unfocused. And then at once, the feeling was gone, and the silence resumed. Liliana regarded the empty space between her and the floor with a thought-lost interest. And then she finally whispered, "The black sun draws near."

*End of chapter 12*

**A/N: Me again. Sorry if my updates are getting a little slow. I'm trying to juggle two fanfic's. This, and my Hunger Games fic, **_**The voice of Hunger**_**. (Thumbs up for the Vorinclex allusion!) Anywho, I want to thank all the readers who gave my story a read, and a bigger thanks to the followers, favorites, and kind reviewers. I'll be sure to try and keep both my stories flowing with regular updates. So until then, have fun reading!**

**-B.D Skunkworks**

**P.S.- Don't let the name change alarm you. **

**Yes, Killingsky is now B.D. Skunkworks.**

**Bruce Dickinson FTW!**


	13. Chapter 13

*Chapter13*

'_It would be so easy…' _Saints thought. He sat on the edge of the enormous fountain in the center of Grador castle's town market. The gentle gurgle of the fountain's ornate spray and the collective sounds of men, women, and children were all around him. Not a far distance from his position was Grador castle itself. It was a bizarre structure. Lacking the spiraling towers and rooks and vistas that a castle would normally have. It was circular in construction; more a less an enormous wall that the various rooms and dwellings were built _into_. And in the wide berth in it's center was Grador's pride; the sunpetal bloom. Here, at the noon hour, it's huge solar petals were flared wide open, drinking in the abundant sunlight and spilling luscious waves of green and white mana. The solar flower was actually larger than the castle itself, casting it's walls in a soft, radiating light. It was nurturing, beautiful, and glorious.

He hated it.

Just then, a young couple approached the fountain just to Saint's left. The young woman had something in her folded hands, which she held just to her forehead as she whispered a silent word, possibly a prayer. She tossed the object, which turned out to be a coin, into the fountain. It sank gently to the fountain's bottom and came to rest with many more of it's like. "What did you wish for?" said her companion.

"If I told you, it wouldn't come true," she answered teasingly.

"That's alright," he said back. "I've got everything I could wish for right here." He took her by the hips and drew her close. The young woman giggled as they embraced in a loving kiss, with no real regard as to the suchness of their public surroundings.

Saints stretched out his left hand, a death spell at the ready. His fingers quivered just inches from the young woman's body. At the very last moment, he stayed himself. '_Not just yet'_ he said to himself. The sudden death a perfectly healthy woman was sure to arouse suspicion, such as he didn't need right now.

Saints still found it somewhat remarkable; the effect this spell had on the right people. It was such a simple spell; Hideous Visage. Under it's influence, he was rendered all but undetectable by anything or anyone not of the black order. It was strange how differently the same spell could function from one plane to the next.

His true aim for resting in this place was simply to wait. His black order comrade, Avidoz, was busy searching the castle interior, as to plot the best possible course to the throne room, where their prey awaited. Saints tapped his booted foot with a measure of impatience. How long had he been gone? Surely it would not have taken so long if he had done it himself. If that idiot… his thoughts were broken by the appearance of Avidoz. "Honestly," Saints said. "If you had taken any longer…"

"Shut your mouth," Avidoz barked back. "The damn place is built like a circle. It felt like I was going around in…" Avidoz abandoned the thought.

"So I take it you found the room? And our little prince along with it?"

Avidoz took a moment before answering, letting his impatience permeate the brief silence. "_Yes_, I found the room. His highness was…tending to his chosen lady. It was actually quite the show."

"So _that's_ what took you," Saints scoffed.

Avidoz chuckled, a sound from his throat like rattling bones. "I gather that it's about time we introduced ourselves," he said.

"Quite," said Saints.

Avidoz lead the way up the grand staircase leading to the castle. There were three wide, sweeping flights, each step engraved with a rune that Saints cold only guess were unique to Grador. Avidoz approached the gate, which was currently closed and guarded by two armored sentries, and phased right through it. Saints stopped in his tracks. He only hesitated a moment more before following suit. He followed Avidoz down the curved corridor. Everything inside the castle was more or less built _with_ the natural curvature of it's walls, rather than just coping with it. They passed many castle folk along the way. But under the visage's influence, they seemed no more than a wisp of moving air.

Just then, Avidoz, clearly without regard to his chosen path, phased through a young castle maid. She suddenly shuddered and dropped her basket of linens. Her fellow maid looked to her in concern. "Are you alright?" she asked her.

The maid turned her head this way and that, while hugging her arms around herself. "I-I don't know. I just felt some sort of…chill." she looked to her companion. "I feel as though something terrible is about to happen."

"Oh, you say that every time it's Ana's turn to cook," the woman said back. "We'll just skip dinner tonight; make it up in the morning. Now let's go." She recovered the spilled basket and they made haste down the corridor.

After a journey of many downward staircases, people who could have sworn they just felt a draft, and constantly turning left, they finally reached a door that was quite a sight grander than any other they've encountered thus far. "So this is it?" Saints said.

"Indeed," Avidoz responded. The door was guarded by yet more spear-carrying sentries. But for all the notice that Avidoz took of them, they may have not even been there at all. He phased strait through the tightly locked doors, and Saints followed.

They entered an absolute grand enormity of a chamber. This was the very heart of Grador castle. It's surrounding walls were made of gold, carved with many scenes of rolling plains and sweeping forests. The floor felt strange beneath his feet, and it took Saints a moment to realize that he was standing on a floor of immaculately trimmed grass. And of course, there was the sunpetal bloom. They were at it's very base, it's petals extending into the depths of the blue sky. Saints knew the ceiling, or lack thereof, to possibly be enchanted, as to keep out the frigid air in winter, and of course, to shield from the rain.

And nestled between a gap in it's petals, was an elaborate bed. It was a grand thing with silk hangings and velvet covers. And it just so happened to be occupied at the moment. Two lovers curled in each others arms, after the obvious precedings. Saints knew the man to be the prince of Grador, though he could care less about his name. Saints flexed his fingers as he tapped into his mana flow. He had been waiting too long to cause some mayhem, now was his chance.

"No," said Avidoz.

"And why not?" Saints said, baring his teeth in agitation.

"There's only one true way to destroy a land," he said quietly, while tapping his own mana. "And that is with another."

Avidoz then began to move his hands in a strange series of circular motions, chanting under his breath. Saints felt his mana flow first hand, and was baffled at the mix of black _and _white. He was actually drawing strength from the sunpetal bloom. Avidoz quickened his motions and an orb of concentrated mana formed before him. The orb then rose high into the air, nearly lost in the gleam of the sun. Then at once, the orb fell to the ground and sank beneath the surface.

Avidoz then turned his palms upward. His muscles tightened, strained, and trembled. He lifted his hands with a seemingly great effort, as though he were trying to lift some immense invisible weight.

Which was precisely what he was doing.

Suddenly there was a rumble. The occupants of the bed were startled alert. The rumbling intensified and the young woman shrieked in alarm. And just then, a spire erupted from the ground. The prince and the young woman cried in terror as they fled to a far corner of the room. The spire was just the tip of the structure. A massive building rose from the ground now. As it forced it's way out of the earth, Saints could hear the deep tolling of many bells coming from it. Guards rushed into the chamber, followed by many terrified castle folk. And now the event was over, and they stood in stupefied horror at what the saw. The sunpetal bloom was gone completely. In it's place stood a massive cathedral. But this cathedral was not one of solace. Blood ran down it's walls and it cast a freezing shadow over the room.

Saints knew what this was. He had seen it many times back home. Though it was supposedly the former home of an almighty angel of the white order, he was surprised to see just how forlorn and decrepit it looked; much more sinister than it's intended host would lead one to believe. It was a place of life _and _death.

It was the vault of the Archangel.

"By the heavens, the sunpetal bloom!" The realization swept over the room in a wave of horrible cries. " 'Tis the black order, surely!"

Though he and Avidoz were still veiled by the visage, Saints knew that the people had finally caught on and would be having their mages combing the castle looking for a black order presence. Well, they wouldn't have to look far. He raised his hand into the air and then snapped his fingers. The veil was instantly dispelled. Fresh cries of terror from the castle folk met their appearance. Saints showed every one of his teeth in a manic grin of bloodlust. "Showtime!" he shouted. And loosed himself upon the room.

…...

The field was empty. Barren, lush, and somehow endless. Of course it wasn't completely empty, I was here. But it felt as though my presence here counted for absolutely nothing; my essence replaced with that of some hollow being who knew nothing of the light of the world. I was walking, but I was hardly aware of it. My feet followed one step after the next, as though by pure memorized reflex. I think Kenziner was in my hand. It dragged lamely through the dirt behind me.

Alone, all alone, with nothing but strange words echoing in my head. _I believe this was fated to be._ Those words were Gideon's. It seemed like more than forever ago that he spoke them to me. _When one has fallen, judgment will follow. _Those were the last words he spoke to me.

Gideon.

He was everything to me in this world. The voice of reason, the most brilliant of all the world's light, the man I had fallen in love with. Now he was gone, and had taken all the light with him. But somewhere near the end of this dark tunnel of grief, I began to see another light, and I realized that maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought. I remembered my comrades, everyone who we were fighting for. The hopes of the people of Terra-Fausta. I stopped walking as a new feeling slowly took shape in my mind. I knew I couldn't let despair consume me. Doing so would only lead me and the world to destruction. I grasped Kenziner tightly in my two hands as a new focus grew inside me. I vowed that Gideon's death would not go unanswered. Instead of sorrow, I would use his memory for strength. I returned my sword to it's sheath as I focused on my new destination. I had to get back to Lu-Restia. I closed my eyes and took a step out of reality.

My journey back to the city was uneventful. Perhaps because none of the scenery made an impression on me as it did before. I neared my destination as the shapes of many people grew in my mind. I arrived back in the city square among a group of city folk and peacekeepers. "Angell!" Wylis ran to me and took my arms. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said quietly.

Wylis' eyes scanned around the square. "Where is Gideon?"

I took just a small moment before answering. Of course Wylis wouldn't know, he didn't have the planeswalker awareness. "He's gone. Gideon is gone."

Wylis took a step back as the information washed over him. "The black order?" he asked. I nodded. " 'Tis a dark day," he said.

I looked to the group of frightened townsfolk and peacekeepers. "Now do you see?" I said to them all. "The ways of the old are through. Let the past be the past and realize that we as a people have a much greater threat to face. Believe it or not, you all are ,in fact, denizens of the white order. We need your strength to fight with us, not against us."

One of the peacekeepers, apparently appointed new leader, as the previous one was deceased, walked right up to me and looked me in the eye. And then she took to one knee, offering her sword to me in the gesture. "Our deepest apologies, planeswalker of the white order," she said. "Our previous leader was, how you say…extreme in his views. We share no such mindset; we were simply following orders."

I didn't want to tell her that it was alright. Due to her unit of peacekeepers holding me up here in the city, Gideon's life was lost. If I could have just gotten there a little sooner… "Your apologies are accepted," I said. "So long as you promise to lend us your aid when we call."

"It is the least we can do," said the peacekeeper captain.

Just then, the familiar tickle came to mind. Turning to look past Wylis, I saw him. Sitting on the inn's stairs was Jeriah Thel. I approached him slowly. He cast me look that clearly said I was the last person in the world he wanted to see. "I thought you had more important things to do than follow me on some self-righteous quest?"

"I do," Jeriah said. "But I pay my respects when a planeswalker has fallen."

"I didn't think you were the type," I said.

"Look," Jeriah said impatiently. He stood up and looked me in the eye. "As much fun as it is matching wits with the likes of some child-woman such as yourself, I do believe that we have more important things to attend to at the moment."

"He speaks the truth," Wylis said. "Surely by now, the black order will seize on their advantage. 'Tis only a matter of time before they strike again."

Of course he was right. Saints wouldn't just lie around and give us time to grieve our loss. No. He would surely press his advantage. Saints, Avidoz, and the rest of the black order would be on the move now.

Saints.

I think I understand now his motive for killing Gideon. I don't believe it was because they were enemies. There was an ulterior motive at play that I didn't see until just now. Saints wanted to see how I would respond; a loss of someone deeply and personally important. He wanted to see how I would cope; he was testing me. He more than likely assumed that I would just shrivel up and go away; give up fighting and simply invite death. That was not the case. I knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that when we next met, I would fight him as if I meant to kill. He took Gideon from me, and he was going to pay for it with his life.

I had just come to my new determination, when suddenly, I felt it. An absolutely tremendous wave of dark mana. Both me and Jeriah's heads snapped out to the east. "You know, I really hate it when planeswalkers do that," Wylis said. "They just stare off into space and the rest of us can only wonder what they're thinking. For those without supernatural senses-"

"Wylis!" I said, cutting him off. He looked to me somewhat cautiously, more than likely frightened of my intensity. "Where did you say you were from again?"

"From the east, m'lady. The princedom of Grador."

Me and Jeriah looked to each other, exchanging knowing glances. "Is something wrong?" Wylis said.

"Nothing, really," Jeriah answered him.

Wylis saw right through Jeriah's patronizing indifference. "Nothing like what?"

Jeriah looked Wylis in the eye as he said with just the ghost of a smile, "The sunpetal bloom was just destroyed."

*End of chapter 13*


	14. Chapter 14

*Chapter 14*

"The sunpetal bloom was just destroyed."

Wylis' white skin flushed a shade lighter as he took a step back, as though physically struck by the news. "T-That cannot be possible…" he choked. He looked to me, seeking some kind of confirmation. I had nothing of the like to give.

I looked again to the east. The immense spike of dark mana still pulled mightily on my mind. Underneath it, I could feel a spark; _two_ of them. I immediately recognized them both. "It's Saints and Avidoz," I said. "They have launched an attack on Grador."

"We have to go, now!" Wylis' voice cracked out of sheer desperation.

"And like yesterday," Jeriah drawled, sharing none of Wylis' frenzied state. He took a somewhat lazy step, and vanished completely.

"Jeriah!" I shouted. It was too late, he was gone, no doubt strait to the battle that was to unfold at Grador. Looking into Wylis' frightened eyes now, I realized that we may have a problem. It would surely be easy enough for me and Jeriah to reach Grador in short time, but Wylis shared no such gift. And there was no way he would volunteer to stay behind, not with his home city under attack by the black order. Just how would we work this out? Just then, an idea came to me. It was more than a long shot, but it was the only shot we had. But before that, there was something that I needed to clear up. I turned to the peacekeeping captain and her unit, "You had better make yourself ready," I told her. "The black order is on the move. Even if we do stop them at Grador, there's no telling if they will move a number of their contingent onto this city, or any other. Gather you unit and alert the people."

The peacekeeper captain pounded her fist to her heart. "By your word, planeswalker," she said. "I've just one request."

"Speak," I said.

"If I could ask your name…"

"My name is Angell."

Her eyes went wide with shock and wonder, "Angell. _The_ angel of the prophecy!?" I nodded. She and the rest of her unit dropped to their knees. "If only we had known! A million apologies, great angel!"

"Think nothing of it," I said. I turned back to Wylis, the wheels in my head spinning furiously. "Okay, I need you to work with me here. I can get us both to Grador. I think."

"Tell me what I have to do," Wylis said eagerly.

I walked up to Wylis and I took both his hands. "I need you to close your eyes and focus. Focus on Grador," I said while closing my own eyes. "When I step into the aether, I going to take you with me. But you'll get lost in the stream if you aren't focused completely on your destination. This will be strange and dangerous, but all you have to do is focus, okay?" I opened my eyes and found Wylis staring at me with a somewhat glazed expression. His mouth was just slightly open, and was I imagining it, or was there a flush to his cheeks? "Wylis!" he seemed to snap back into reality. "Focus on _Grador_…not on me." A small smile crossed my lips as I said this. I could feel a flush coming into my face as well.

"R-Right, Grador, of course," he sputtered.

I've never seen Wylis lose his composure before. But now was not the time. "Okay, Wylis. I'm going to count to three, and then we'll planeswalk together."

"Is this going to hurt?" he asked.

"Not one bit," I said back. "Here goes. One. Two." Wylis tightened his grip on my hands. "Three!" I took a step and entered the aether stream, Wylis along with me.

It was strange making this trip with another person. Along with the haze of blurred landscapes and mana-rushed imagery, I could feel Wylis underneath it all, both physically and mentally. No doubt I was picking up on his focus as he concentrated with every fiber of his being on our destination. Our hands remained locked together as we flew along faster than any conceivable light could well travel. And then I could begin to see shapes in my mind. I saw many buildings, people, and…what? What were those? Are they black order creatures? The closer we were, the more another feeling surfaced. I didn't know what it was, but it was the darkest and heaviest thing I have ever felt on my mind before. And then, suddenly I realized something else. We were slowing down. I don't know why, but we were losing velocity, and fast. We weren't going to make it into the city.

And then, just like that, we were ejected from the aether. We were only a few feet from the ground luckily. Me and Wylis landed in a tangle of dirt, hair, and grass, with me eventually winding up on top of him. Wylis took the full brunt of the impact and I got a nasty shock as well. I pushed myself up on my hands and said down to Wylis, "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

He reached up, pinned my thick hair back behind my ears and said devilishly, "I'm in no rush."

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. The city was still at least a quarter mile from our position, just what had stopped us from making it inside? Just then I noticed Jeriah standing a few yards ahead. I joined his side and said, "You didn't get close enough either, huh?"

"I don't know," he said. "It felt like something prematurely stopped my planeswalk. Some kind of…" he shook his head, unable to conjure the word.

Wylis joined us and pointed to the sky. "So…uh…was it night fall when we left?"

We all looked up and I was astonished at what I saw. The sky had been seemingly overtaken by darkness. Clouds of jet-black energy swirled the length of the expanse. "What is that?" I gasped.

"Black mana," Jeriah answered. "_Lots_ of it."

And as though by some wordless agreement, we all began running as hard as we could towards Grador. I was having some trouble, as the sharp heels of my boots kept plunging themselves into the soft earth. We made it to the gates and were pulled up short by another feeling. This presence seemed much more numerous than the others. I knew what it was. "The black order's creatures," I said to the others. We readied our weaponry and with a final charge, entered the gates of Grador.

…...

Dozens of dead bodies littered the what used to be the sunpetal chamber. Mages, knights, and regular denizens accounted for the victims. The rest of the mage unit, along with quite possibly every guard in the castle stood on the outskirts of a seemingly impossible situation. As of now, the young prince of Grador, Holloway, was on his knees. He could only watch as his companion, his young lover named Lobelia, was held in the clutches of a black order mage who called himself, 'Saints'.

"Honestly, now," Saints said to the room. "If you've more stern resistance to offer, now would be the time."

Holloway glared daggers at Saints. "Just what is it you think you're doing?"

"The standard black mage fare," Saints responded casually. "Terror, death, destruction. You know, the usual."

Lobelia squirmed in Saints' arms. "You've got what you wanted," she said. "Now just leave us be!"

Saints tightened his arm around her throat, causing Holloway to gasp in agony. "Please!" Holloway begged. "Take me as your prisoner. Let Lobelia go!"

" 'Fraid not," Saints said. "A male prisoner just isn't as attractive a target as a lady in distress. Isn't that right?" He whispered this in Lobelia's ear, renewing her violent, yet futile attempts to escape Saints' grasp. The mage-warriors around the perimeter gritted their teeth and cursed many obscenities, but the lot of them were rendered next to powerless having the sunpetal bloom, their main source of mana, destroyed. Besides, Saints told them that if they made any move at all, He would kill the girl. A simple enough feat with the right spell.

Just then, Lobelia spoke back to Saints. Not in the manner of hysterics that one in this sort of situation would normally adopt, but with a calculated calm and something of an undeniable pity. "As strange as this may seem, black order bane, I _do_ feel sorry for you," she said.

"And why is that?"

"You are fated forever to wander the black heaven of the agony. Your life is lost; your soul is damned."

"And yet it feels too good to make a stand," Saints chuckled.

"That is bad," Lobelia said. "But this is worse; and in the name of Terra, may your judgment be swift and severe."

Saints cackled like a lunatic. "Let judgment come," he laughed. "I _love_ this curse."

Lobelia squirmed again in his arms. And then she began a speech. It was a prayer, a plea for help; for deliverance from evil. "Almighty Terra of the white heaven of the clarity. By your grace we-"

Saints cut off her prayer with a violent yank of her hair. She squealed in pain as the mage-soldiers cried in anger. "Spare me your angel speak," he growled at her. "As it just so happens that I'm waiting for an angel too." His head suddenly snapped upwards, the pull on his mind alerting him to his quarry's arrival. "Speak of the devil…"

"She approaches," said Avidoz from a corner of the room. Saints had actually forgotten he was there. "And she has company." Avidoz went silent for a moment as he regard the other two phenomena. "One is a planeswalker. The other; a lesser mage."

"Finally," Saints said. "Maybe now I can get the fight that these sops weren't able to give me!" He laughed manically as Angell's presence grew ever closer. 'Let's see what's left of you, great angel' he thought.

…...

The creatures were everywhere; they were as numerous as they were ferocious. Me, Wylis, and Jeriah crashed through the streets of Grador cutting down creature after creature. Wylis lead the way through the wide cobbled streets, as he knew the shortest route to the castle. We didn't see any city folk on our way, which I guess was a good thing, maybe they had gotten to safety somehow. We rounded a corner and came to the castle town square. Under normal circumstances, this place would have been beautiful. But now, with the seemingly infinite shadow cast by the black mana cloud in the sky, it seemed more forlorn and desolate than it was sure to be intended. There was one other thing as well.

An eight-foot Zombie Goliath that was running strait at us.

We scattered in separate directions. Unable to stop it's tremendous momentum, the goliath collided with a beautiful white marble spire on the perimeter of the square. The marble shattered. The zombies was no worse for wear. I charged white mana into Kenziner as I prepared my first spell, but it was Wylis who acted first. He armed his hunter's bow and let loose an arrow that embedded itself in the goliath's shoulder. It howled in enraged surprise. Either it was too angry, or just too stupid to pull the arrow out immediately. I somehow doubt it was hurt much anyway. It rounded on Wylis with savage and empty eyes. "Little help please!" he called over it's thundering footfalls.

The goliath was on a mad charge directly at Wylis. I only just managed to get my spell off. "Rebuke!" the spell flew full force across the square and obliterated the zombie in mid step. I helped Wylis to his feet.

"Great spell, that," he said gratefully.

"I run four copies in my deck," I said back, knowing full well that he would have no idea what that actually meant.

"The strangest thing though," Wylis continued. "I'm hardly able to focus any mana, not now with the sunpetal bloom gone."

"Maybe _that_ has something to do with it," said Jeriah from a few feet away. We all looked in the direction he was pointing.

"Grador castle…" Wylis moaned forlornly. From the center of the oddly shaped castle rose a building. It looked like it could have been a cathedral. It definitely looked familiar, I just couldn't think where I have seen it before. The swirling black mana that invaded the sky was definitely emanating from the unknown structure. Wylis then adopted a more desperate tone, "Oh, no, Prince Holloway!" without a word of explanation, he ran off towards the castle. We followed him up three flights of gorgeous marble stairs emblazed with various runes of an unknown origin. I had never realized before just how fast Wylis could run, me and Jeriah could hardly match his pace as he crashed through the castle's enormous oaken doors and down the curving corridors.

The layout of the castle was built like a ring, no doubt surrounding the former place where the sunpetal bloom once rested. We thundered down many staircases, barely keeping track of Wylis by the flash of his white-blonde hair just around the corners. On our downward journey, the sparks of Saints and Avidoz were becoming stronger, more pronounced all the time. We were getting close. And then we came upon a set of grand double doors, which were flung wide open. I could hear many angry voices floating from the room beyond them, and the auras of the two dark planeswalkers were chasing. We all burst through the doors amid shouts of surprise and joy.

The first thing I noticed were the bodies. They were dead mages and soldiers strewn everywhere. The survivors were huddled around the perimeter of the enormous room, their eyes locked on the drama unfolding in it's center. There stood Saints, he had a young woman held captive by her throat, who writhed in his grasp. Saints' manic grin widened like the Cheshire cat's. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the lesser of two evils!"

Before I could respond, Wylis made a move towards the figure kneeling just a few feet from Saints' position. "Prince Holloway!" Wylis knelt beside the young man and took his shoulders.

Holloway's eyes found Wylis and widened slightly. "Wylis!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, it's been a while," Wylis said hurriedly. "But I need you to come with me."

"But Lobelia…" he moaned.

"I'll get her back," I said quietly. Wylis lead the prince away and I was left facing Saints and his captive. I was a good ten feet from them, I could see the terror in the girls' widened blue eyes, which were fixated right on me, better conveying a message than perhaps words could have at the moment, _please help me. _I raised Kenziner in with my right hand and pointed it's long, fine blade directly at Saints. "Let the girl go. You know it's me you want."

Saints' laughter carried no sound. There was only the shake of his shoulders and his smile that conveyed the gesture. "You seem to be doing pretty well," he said through a razor-like grin.

"Oh I'm just fine, believe me," I said, still holding Kenziner steadily at his face.

"Really?" he said. "Not missing your little Gideon at all, hm?" My arm trembled at that, Kenziner shaking slightly in my hand. Saints knew he had hit a nerve. "Oh, ha ha haaah! It appears the angel isn't over her little crush!"

The room went absolutely quiet. I'm not sure whether from lack of actually sound, or from the violent rush of blood into my ears. "Let…her…go…" my words were a dangerous whisper.

"I could let her go…" Saints said with mock thoughtfulness. Then he produced a five inch long poison-tipped needle from his hidden gauntlet and held it directly against the girl's right temple. "Or I could do this." The girl went positively rigid, knowing the slightest movement would result in her brain being pierced.

"You kill her," I whispered. "And I swear on the zenith that I will send you after her."

Saints laughed again. The sheer lunacy of the sound almost causing me to shrink away from it. "Well, with an invitation like that, how could I possibly refuse?" And in a motion quicker than a blink, he drove the needle right through the girl's temple. She died instantly and crumpled to the ground.

I absolutely lost it.

With a scream that I was hardly aware of producing, I ran the short span that separated me from Saints. I wanted to kill him. I was _going_ to kill him. No justice in this world would be greater at the moment than for Saints to perish by my hands. Grief, anger, sadness, confusion, guilt. All of these feelings seemed to move by blade by their own accord. I was swinging with a reckless abandon. Saints easily evaded my strikes. My eyes blurred with tears of more emotions than my mind was capable of commanding. _Die! Die! Die!_ my strokes connected with only empty air. I lifted Kenziner above my head and struck down with a cry of ferocious finality. Saints simply lifted his index finger and stopped by blade cold on it's tip. My mouth fell open in breathless shock. Saints gave my blade a tiny push and I sailed ten feet backwards through the air, landing on my back.

It was just then that Avidoz moved to Saints' side. "No," Saints said, holding out an arm to stop him. His pupils had dilated again, turning even the whites a ghastly jet-black. And those black soulless eyes were locked directly on me. "She's mine. I've waited too long for this."

I regained my footing. I saw Wylis and Jeriah from the corner of my eye. Wylis' eyes were wide with fear, the prince Holloway was racked over with grief at the loss of his lover. Jeriah simply stared with a hard expression of understanding. He knew I didn't want him to interfere. This battle was mine.

I retook my position, holding Kenziner over my shoulder in my battle stance, it's blade pointed directly at my enemy. Me and Saints faced off in the center of the enormous room, washed in the shadow of the dark cathedral. Looking into his midnight eyes I could feel something grow inside me. It was something I couldn't place, it felt like something I had almost no control of. It was like a powerful radiating heat that burned along with my heartbeat and caused my brain to adopt a rapt focus. The feeling grew and seemed to permeate my very flesh. And at the same time, I could feel the same thing happening to Saints. Waves of mana-heated air rolled off his body. And then I knew what was happening.

Our sparks were igniting.

This is what happened when planeswalkers met in battle. It was the undeniable and savage nature of our kind. In the face of conflict, our souls burned with a morbid excitement. The spark, as though a completely separate consciousness, was more than eager to plunge it's bearer into a battle in which it's might could finally and truly be tested. And I was not going to deny it. I wanted this fight, and I know Saints did too. Standing here in the collision of our sparks, I knew right then and there.

One of us was going to die.

*End of chapter 14*

**A/N:**

**Me again. Just another end of chapter foot note. I just wanted to thank again the people that decided to give my story a read. And if you've been onboard since the beginning, you get an extra special thanks (and a cookie!) And another thanks for the follows and kind reviews. **

**I just wanted to let you guys know that it's going to be a while before I update this story again, as I'm turning my focus to my other story, a Hunger Games fic entitled; **_**The voice of Hunger. **_**So any Hunger Games fans reading this should definitely give that a look!**

**So anyway, thanks again and see you soon!**

**- B.D. Skunkworks**


	15. Chapter 15

*Chapter 15*

The room was deadly silent. It could have been a chaotic riot for all I knew. The totality of all disasters could begin and end in this very space, and all that would matter to me was Saints. We squared off in the middle of the silent chamber, washed in the forlorn shadow of the decrepit cathedral, which now stood in place of the sunpetal bloom. Saints cackled through a dagger-like smile and said, "Let's get this party started." then he cast his first spell. "Typhoid Rats!" a small pack of disease-ridden vermin swarmed at his feet.

I knew how to respond. I raised Kenziner and shouted "Elder Cathar!" A grizzled veteran of war appeared at my side. "Elite vanguard!" was my follow up. "Go forward, Cathar!" The elder Cathar raised his blade and charged for Saints. His pack of rats moved to engage him. The typhoid rats overwhelmed my creature as they gnawed him away down to his very bones. Which is exactly what I wanted to happen. My elite vanguard let out a murderous cry at the sight of his fallen comrade. Rage empowered his very being at the memory of his ally. "Vanguard, attack!" was my order.

My soldier made a mad tear for my enemy, with no creature to hinder his path, he was guaranteed a clear strike. Or so I thought. Saints stood with his arms at his sides, he barely seemed to notice the frenzied warrior charging for his throat. As though by a last-minute afterthought, Saints turned his head to the immanent threat and shouted "Doom Blade!" my soldier was ripped apart by a solid blade of black mana. Saints grinned in my direction. "You may not be entirely brainless, but you sure as hell are stupid," he said. He flexed his right arm "Phyrexian Crusader!" The familiar toxic knight appeared by his side.

Again, I knew how to respond. "Mirran Crusader!" A knight of the Mirran resistance stood firm before me.

"Interesting…" Saints mused. He sent his crusader forward, and in response, I advanced mine as well. But I knew what was going to happen here. Their opposite protections were going to cancel each other out. I dashed in line, right behind my creature. Just as the two crusaders raised their weapons…they phased right through each other, and I was there waiting. Using my forward momentum, I cast my blade outwards…and skewered the Phyrexian knight, right where I knew it's black heart to be.

Unfortunately, Saints had destroyed my crusader as well, with a poison-tipped needle right through the throat. The two creatures crumbled into ash as me and Saints stared each other right in the eye, still holding our killing poses. This was a collision of black and white. No matter what we tried, the other would find a way to cancel it out. We both knew this, and seemed to realize it at the same time.

I raced towards Saints with Kenziner held high. No matter how much of a monster he was, he was still mortal. I was going to cut his head off. Saints ginned wickedly, as though welcoming a frontal assault. I slashed at Saints again and again. Not with the manic frenzy of having seen the girl murdered, but with precision strokes that caused Kenziner to seemingly dance through the air. Saints moved soundlessly, as he hopped this way and that, carelessly evading my strikes. I knew I couldn't hit him, his unholy agility would never allow for it. My main purpose was to keep him distracted as I thought of my next spell. And I had it. I relented my attack and spun away from Saints. I charged white mana into Kenziner as I readied the spell. I was set to unleash it, when Saints, apparently, well aware of what I was doing, countered. "Distress!"

I was frozen in mid-stance. I tried to move my body, but I was frozen in time, all but helpless as Saints invaded my mind. "Now, let's see here…" his fingers danced in the air as he poured over the spells I had readied in my mind. He laughed as he found his target. "So _that's_ what you were plotting," he cackled. "Can't have that, now can we?" He snapped his fingers and the image of the spell shattered in my mind. Reality returned to me and I was left at a complete loss as to what I was about to do. I was going to cast something, but what was it? It was… it was… what it was I'll never know, because Saints was at my throat. His arm was drawn back and he had a poison needle ready to lance my throat. It was in the wake of oncoming death that my memory spiked. Suddenly I remembered what I was going to cast. "Bonds of faith!" A shining ethereal chain of light wound it's way around my body. It then extended itself to envelope Saints, and in an instant, we were both immobilized.

Saints swore in frustration. "What trick is this?"

I responded calmly, "What cannot be destroyed will be bound," I said.

Saints grinned without amusement. "Pretty words," he growled. "What even makes you think this ploy will work?"

"You forget," I said to him. "Deep down, you and I, we're not really human. We're vessels of our sparks, all planeswalkers are. Our humanity is more or less…marginal. Especially in your case; I don't even know _what _to call you anymore. You used to be someone important to me, someone that I loved. Don't you see what the black order has done to you? To us?" I tugged on the golden chain of mana that kept me and my enemy bound and immobile. "Deep down, Saints, there's still this; the ties that bind us. I don't know if it's for better or for worse, but they are there. You can't let them manipulate you, you have to make them work for _you. _Do you understand?" Even in the midst of battle like this; even with both of our lives on the line; even though we were now, and possibly fated to forever be mortal enemies; there was still a part of me that wanted him back. A part of me that remembered Saints as he used to be, not as he was now; so full of hatred and bloodlust. And that part of me, right at this moment, burned more intensely than my spark ever could.

Saints stared me in the eye for a seemingly interminable span of time. His gaze was that of wonderment; of awe in the revelation of a resounding truth. His head was cocked slightly and he stared at me as though he were seeing me for the first time in his life.

And then he went absolutely berserk.

Something exploded behind his lifeless black eyes as he screamed; wailed; as though in some kind of deep, inexorable agony. The sound was maddening. It reverberated ten-fold off the golden walls of the chamber. His scream reached the absolutely hellish pitch of all the world's demons being tortured for a devil's eternity. And it froze there; never ceasing; never pausing for breath; never ending. It was like trying to stand erect in a wind tunnel. I was buffeted by waves of the nightmarish sound from Saints' mouth. The bonds of faith were broken and I was hurled backwards, crashing onto my back.

He screaming had stopped. Saints was hunched over, clutching his stomach; his breathing looked to be incredibly labored. He lifted his eyes to me. I was horrified at what I saw. His eye sockets were empty; deep black recesses that danced with curling black smoke. Pure black mana shimmered around him, casting him in a deathly veil of madness. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was no voice that belonged to him that escaped his throat. This was something else, something apparently Saints had no control of, he spoke as though he had somehow been… possessed.

"_**So, this is the white sun's child that is destined to oppose me?"**_ The voice was deep, and seemed to have some sort of self-satisfied edge about it. And I detected a feminine inclination to it as well. "_**Once again it seems that Terra has chosen poorly. You white order weaklings always preach about your righteousness and pureness of heart and soul, always seeming to conveniently forget about the second side of humanity"**_

I took a step forward. I knew Saints wasn't in control of himself. The way his mouth moved so listlessly as the voice spoke through him told me so. So I directed my response at the apparent being in control of his body. "Who are you?"

There was a deep cackle, as though it were amused by such a simple and predictable question. "_**I am Fausta Deus, harbinger of the black sun's zenith." **_There were collective gasps all throughout the room. I knew what the__people were reacting to. Fausta Deus was one of the great creators of this plane. She sculpted the land and it's inhabitants alongside Terra Stella. The soldiers around the room dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to the floor in awed worship. Though I knew Fausta to be evil, I didn't blame them, after all, they had basically just met god. Fausta laughed again in amusement. "_**Do you not see, great angel, how the will of humanity is so easily bent?" **_I remained silent, waiting for her to drive the point home. "_**In the face of that which they cannot hope to comprehend or ascend, they will assume surrender. When faced with what, to them, is unnatural, or beyond categorization, they will seek to destroy it. This is the nature of all men; this is what Terra refuses to acknowledge in humanity. This is why they have grown weak!"**_

I spoke back to Fausta, with as much calm as I could muster. "So this is your conflict? Terra refuses to see the evil in people and you hate her for it? You know it works both ways, don't you? You can't see the good in people, so that's why Terra turned her back on you, and here you are throwing some angelic hissy fit?"__

"_**Do not think you can even BEGIN to understand the workings of the divine, child. What you see as simple black and white, I can assure you has a much deeper scope. Everything; everyone, born under or touched by Terra's influence is poisonous; spreading like a diseased wildfire across this plane of our making. I knew I should have never allowed her to spread her, how you say… "enlightenment" over our world."**_

"But that's just it, isn't it? You and Terra created this world hand in hand. You _both_ created everything with your own images in mind. Didn't you once love Terra? Was she not your companion?"

"_**You will com to know child, that you can never hate someone as much as someone you once loved. At the time, I did see what we did as right. But after standing by and witnessing the stagnation of humanity's development, I have come to regret my collaboration with her."**_

"Your being unfair," I said back to her. "Humanity didn't stagnate, they balanced each other out. Good will always be there to confront evil, and vice-versa. The idea is _balance_. No one faction can be in eternal control, that's just the way of life. It holds true on every plane of existence. That's why humanity's history, no matter where you look, is always written in blood."__

"_**And just like everything else Terra has her hooks in, you cannot grasp the simplest of truths. Balance is a wholly fictional concept! Every man dreams of ruling the world; of having power so great that no one could possibly challenge them. It's the power of thoughts like this that Terra seeks to abolish, I wish to facilitate them. Anyone who seeks power should be able to grasp it. That is exactly what you and your little white order refuse to believe in. Individuality. You try to conform everything to your little cause. And anything outside the boundaries of the accepted righteousness is to be condemned.**_

_**So tell me, is that balance? Is the white order not simply trying to spread their influence over the masses? Trying to sculpt the world as they see fit? Into to some collective tool at their beck and call?**__"_

I was actually taken aback by her questions. As anyone would know, by some sort of cosmic conformity, if any force should have dominion over the world, it should be that of the just. A world of harmony is obviously preferred to that of a world of discord. Isn't that what man always strived for? World peace? But have total peace over that of constant conflict…. "Your wrong," I said to Fausta. "We have a legend on my plane too. An all powerful creator just like you sculpted the world in his vision. There was paradise at first, but then humanity was tempted into sin. Humanity only fell victim to what was already inherent in them. It was beyond our creator's control to influence every facet of his creation, just as it's beyond yours. You can't intervene with the workings of humanity. It has nothing to do with influence or guidance, man will chose his own path, one way or the other. That's the way of all things."

"Angell…" Wylis breathed softly off to my left.

And then Fausta took over again. "_**I have had enough of your sanctity speak. The world is there to be shaped to the will of those with the strength to carry out their vision. That is my goal. And if you and your little white order plan to stop me, then you are indeed welcome to try." **_

And at once the demonically angelic haze was gone, seeming to be absorbed into Saints in a rush of darkness. He snapped back into reality, with no apparent knowledge of the possessive episode that had just occurred. He flexed his fingers as his eyes once again dilated to total blackness. "You are REALLY beginning to annoy me," he seethed. "I'm going to finish this here and now!" And in a rush of black mana he called forth his terrible creature, "Phyrexian Obliterator!" A towering horror of a creature appeared before him. It was hideous; all angles, spines, and sharpness. It turned it's empty and blind eyes towards me and unleashed a shriek of unfathomable pitch, revealing row upon row of rotted needle teeth.

I took a shaky step backward as I was lost in the shadow of the thing. I knew this creature; I couldn't hope to hurt it directly, 'less I wanted to sacrifice the lives of my allies. And then it came to me. Sacrifice. I knew I could defeat this this without harming my comrades, but I was going to need help. I turned to the mages on the perimeter. "Everyone, please listen!" I said. "This creature can be defeated, but I need for you to lend me your strength."

"Tell us what you need, Angell," said Wylis.

"I need all of you to look deep within yourselves. I need you to tap into your deepest reservoirs of green mana, and to focus them onto me. Please."

The mages nodded and steeled themselves with focus. With the sunpetal bloom gone, it would be some little task to harness mana of any kind for them, but I had faith in them.

I began harnessing my own flow of white mana, it was plentiful to be sure, but no amount of it alone was going to help me. And then I felt something else. Something I had never felt before. It was a sensation of…of…well, if I had to akin it to something, it would be…sunlight. I closed my eyes and I could see the colors swirling behind my eyelids. Yes, there was green mana running throughout my body, in collaboration with my own white mana flow. They had come through for me, as I knew the could. Now I had to carry out my part of the plan. I peaked both mana flows and formed a clear image in my mind. I raised both my hands to the sky as I shouted, "Hear my call, Sigarda, Host of Herons!"

And from the parted clouds dove a flock of the beautiful birds of this legendary angel's namesake. She then at once took startling form; appearing in a rush of wings and sound. She brandished her heron scythe and stood before our enemy, fierce as a blaze. "I hear your call for aid, planeswalker, and obey." Sigarda's brilliant voice seemed to shake the very air she occupied.

"Please, Sigarda, lend us your strength to smite this evil before us!" I implored the mighty angel.

"It shall be done," Sigarda said. She flexed her gorgeous wings and took to the air, descending on our enemies like a righteous thunderbolt.

Saints was outwardly alarmed. He stood in wide-eyed panic as the divine being swooped down for him. He knew that no spell he could muster would fell her; Sigarda's almighty aura spared her of such things. With an easy sweep of her mighty weapon, she beheaded the monstrosity that was the obliterator. It crumpled into grey ashes and scattered on the wind produced by her wings. Then she looked to dispatch Saints with the same ease.

"RETREAT!" Avidoz shouted from Saints' side. "We must fall back!" And he did. And Saints followed, but not without one last look of hateful loathing at me.

With the threat of the dark planeswalkers gone, Sigarda then turned back to me. I took to one knee in the awe of her glorious presence. "On behalf of the white and the green orders, we express our deepest and sincerest thanks to you, Sigarda." Every person in the room bowed their heads in eternal respect. Sigarda, in turn, gracefully inclined her head and then folded her wings around herself and was gone from the room.

I made to raise myself from my kneeling position, but my legs shook violently and I fell back onto my hands and knees. Wylis immediately rushed to my side. "Angell, are you alright?"

"I'm…fine…" I breathed. I had never summoned a legendary creature before, and it proved to be very taxing on my body. "I think I just need to…" the room swam around me and I slumped into Wylis' arms.

"Angell!" He looked to the other mages in the room. "That last spell exhausted her. We should get her to the infirmary," he said. They nodded in agreement as they moved to make the arrangements. Wylis carefully lifted me in his arms; my head resting in the crook of his right elbow, and his other arm under my knees. I've never been carried like this by a man, and in spite of my exhaustion, I may have well been blushing.

But that's when another feeling came over me. A feeling of leaving something unfinished. There was still something left to do here, and I wouldn't leave until it was done. "Put me down," I said to Wylis.

"But you can hardly stand," he protested. "It's honestly no trouble-"

"Just put me down," I said more firmly.

Wylis carefully put me back on my feet. I felt just a bit wobbly without his support. I walked as far as my shaky legs would carry me to the center of the room. I was breathing heavy, darkness swam at the edges of my vision as I teetered on the spot. Wylis again moved to my aid, but I held up a hand to stop him. "Just please…let me do this." He nodded.

I cast a look around the room. There still rested the bodies of many a mage-knight who had fallen to Saints. And the body of Lobelia, Holloway's young companion, who now stared sightlessly at the sky. I couldn't let this stand, I had to right this, and I knew exactly how to do it. I tapped into my all but exhausted mana flow. I was terrified to first find no response, but I focused deeper, looking for that last bit of strength within me. And I found it.

With a weary rush of desperate energy I channeled every last ounce of mana into the last spell I could consciously muster. I looked to the sky as I shouted "Angel of glory's rise!" and from my very being, a heavenly light shone forth. And from this light rose a gentle mother angel. She cast her light over the silent room and then spread her grand white wings. And from her wings fell a glorious snow of pure white angel feathers. They drifted about the room with a lofted ease. The shower of feathers settled themselves over the fallen mages in the room, one for each of them. Upon contact with their targets, they shone a brilliant white light, and then the fallen were gifted life once again.

They rose to their feet, looking down at their open hands as though hardly daring to believe the power of this miracle. Their eyes then fell on the angel before them and they fell to their knees in breathless gratitude.

And then it was over. The angel departed and the light left the room, leaving a joyous elation in it's wake. I stood for a moment, looking upon the faces of teary soldiers as they thanked me for life again. I smiled in return. And then at once the ground was rushing up to meet me. Sight left my eyes as blackness blinded me to the world as I fell into the deepest and darkest sleep I have ever known.

*End of chapter 15*

**A/N: Yes, back with another update! It's been a long time coming, no? I've decided on a new tact to my stories; updating them each in turn, rather than focusing on one all at a time. I really must thank my latest guest reviewer for this. They really enjoyed the story and demanded that I update now, like RIGHT now. So thank you guest reviewer, for galvanizing me back into action. **

**And another thanks to everyone; guests and members alike, for giving my story a read, following, favoring, and dropping kind and supportive reviews. I'll see you all again soon.**

**-B.D. Skunkworks**


	16. Chapter 16

*Chapter 16*

The first thing I was aware of, was the light. The second, was that I was conscious of it at all. I didn't know where this place was or how I may have ended up here, but that hardly seemed to matter. I felt at ease here; as though I had somehow found the peace of mind I had been looking for my entire life. Wherever this place was it was beautiful, but almost hauntingly empty. All around me, and seemingly stretched on forever was a world of soft, glassine infinity. There didn't appear to be any directions to actually travel; there was just where I was standing right now, and everywhere else.

I took a few steps forward and seemingly, with an untraceable suddenness, there appeared a red-clothed table. It was meant for two people, as there were two chairs that appeared along with it. With an ease of almost absent-minded willingness, I took one of the seats. It just then occurred to me that I was supposed to be meeting someone here, I didn't know who or why, but the impression was as sudden as it was undeniable.

And then, materializing from the same apparent fold of existence as this table, a person appeared in the chair directly across from me. I knew this person; I knew her very well. How could I not? I lived with her; I saw her every day; she was the person who gave me life.

She was my mother.

"Hello, Angell" she said softly.

I wasn't at all surprised to see her here. My mind told me that she was the one I was waiting for, and that promise had been fulfilled. "Hello, mother" I said back serenely. Though it had been longer than I could possibly have known since I have seen her, my mind was not rushed with emotionally-relived questions and demands of a parent-daughter reunion. What pressed on my mind then was one simple thought. "Where are we?" I obviously didn't have this answer, but somehow I knew my mother would.

"This is the Clarity, the heaven of the white order," she said back.

"The heaven…" I echoed. "Oh, Terra," I gasped in vain, "Am I dead?"

"No, Angell," my mother said. "You're just exhausted, and sleeping very deeply."

"I've heard the names of the heavens used many times. Just what are they?"

My mother paused a moment before speaking. "As you already know, each order of the world had it's own agenda, and thus, each has it's own final destination; one of the five heavens of the zeniths; The clarity, the white heaven; The agony, the black heaven; The acuity, the blue heaven; The tyranny, the red heaven; and The verdancy, the green heaven."

"I see," I said. "But I've always heard the term 'seven heavens' what are the other two?"

"There are resting places outside of the zenith's dominion. They are known as Paradiso and Dementia; the latter being more like hell; but for all spoken purposes, it is called a heaven."

So those were the seven heavens. It was then that another question pressed my mind. "Mother, you know I'm not a kid anymore, right?"

"All too well, Angell."

"Then tell me the truth about everything. About what I am, _why_ I am what I am. And about you. You're not really from earth, are you?"

My mother smiled almost sadly. "Oh where, oh where to begin…" she mused. "I'm not from earth, as you already guessed. I am from a plane called Alara. However, that is what the world was called when it was whole. A great cataclysm called "the sundering" tore the plane of Alara apart, forming five "shards" of the former plane. As I was born on the shard world called Naya, the legend of the sundering was simply passed down through our family over many generations. Naya was a world at peace; we were one with nature and lived in harmony with many other races of beings. Our family had a rich magical heritage, and I was no exception. White magic seemed to come naturally to me, and I was a promising student under my mentor's direction.

And then one night, my spark awakened. I was nineteen when this happened. I was taken from sleep and hurled across the multiverse. I found myself, as I would later learn, on the plane of Mirrodin. I was frightened, but not panicked, I knew I was here for a reason. My spark was answering the call of adventure; of higher purpose, and it would not be denied the satisfaction.

As I ventured across the metallic landscape, I found myself amongst a people that were prepped for war. They were called the auriok, the human natives of Mirrodin. I told them of my arrival on this plane, and they immediately agreed my presence was not mere happenstance. A short time ago one of their own soldiers spoke of feeling the incoming presence of one not from this world. The fact that he used such a term caused unease amongst them, fearing he was delirious or fever-ridden from an injury sustained in prior battle. And that very morning, that same soldier was nowhere to be found; he seemingly vanished from his bed overnight. They needn't say more; I knew what had occurred. I then focused my new planeswalker intuition and managed to find his trail in the aether. It was faint, but it was there.

I left the plane of Mirrodin and followed this planeswalker-soldier through the eternities, my spark glowing with excitement at the prospect of engaging him in battle. My journey brought me here to the plane of Terra-Fausta. The spark I was chasing grew ever more intense. And after much searching of the plane, I finally found him. Though nothing could prepare me for what happened next.

I hacked my through a deep forest, following the spark. I entered a clearing, and there he was, the planeswalker I was chasing. His back was turned to me, but I could see the alertness in his stance. Both our sparks flared and I was giddy with the excitement of challenging him to combat. But when he turned to face me, I had the exact opposite reaction. It was something I wasn't prepared for, and quite honestly something that I never anticipated.

I fell in love.

He was a beautiful man, but savagely so. In his intense and untamed looks was a much deeper pull. I knew he could feel it too; it registered in his eyes, no matter how defiant his words were. He said to me, "If you are so hell-bent on chasing me through eternity, you could at least speak instead of staring at me."

I knew him to be one of the aurioks of Mirrodin; his deep bronze skin and fair white hair told me so. I didn't have the wit to match his words at that moment but we both agreed, that as strangers to this world, we should travel together, and we did."

So these were my mother's adventures as a planeswalker. It was fascinating and romantic, to hear her fall for the man she had chased through eternity. I wanted to ask his name, but this was her story, it would unfold at it's own pace.

"He told me that he was having strange dreams every night that told him of a purpose he was to fulfill. There were two parts to the message, he told me. One, that he was to endure a great battle for the fate of the plane here, and the other, that he would again safeguard it's future by embracing a love that came from eternity.

Along our travels across Terra-Fausta we began to notice signs of discord. Magic users were being rounded up and executed by the dozen. This was happening all across the plane. We knew we could not let this stand, but even as planeswalkers, we had to disguise our abilities, as not to attract unwanted attention. Eventually the mages rebelled and formed the force known as the illuminati. They swept across Terra-Fausta with frightening power, slaying all who dared stand against them. We were boarding in the city of Lu-Dirra at the time. I awoke in the night to find my companion had gone. Where, I did not know. I could feel his spark, so I knew he had not left the plane. So I waited. One night; two nights; three nights passed with no sign of his return.

And then on the fourth night, he came back to me. There was something different about him, you can tell these kinds of things about someone you love. He held in his hands a brilliant magic sword. He said it was the sword of body and mind, and it was gifted to him by the harbinger of the green sun zenith. I was shocked and elated. He was the child of the green sun; he was chosen for the battle that would decide the fate of Terra-Fausta.

He then bent to his knees and took my hands in his. "Andrea, my beloved," he said. "If I could…spend this last night with you…if I could…." he didn't have to say any more. We embraced each other in the bedding and made love together for the rest of the night. Afterward, laying curled in his arms; it was then that I knew he had given me a gift greater than one I could ever hope for."

"Which was what?" I said.

My mother beamed brightly. "My dear daughter, he gave me _you_."

I was thrilled to learn of my conception, but that of course, brought up the obvious question. "Who is he?" I asked, my voice quivering slightly. "Who is my father?"

My mother took just a slight pause before answering. "His name…" she let the sentence hang a moment. "Was Sabaton."

I leaned back in the ethereal chair. It wasn't shock that had numbed me, but rather a sort of relief through revelation. Among all the truths I learned here on this plane, all the spells, tales, and legends, this one fact I held dearest above them all.

Sabaton was my father.

I recalled my re-occurring dream I've been having since my arrival here. The man in that dream was my father, speaking to me. So that answered many of my questions, like that of my appearance. I wasn't half Mexican, I was half auriok. That explained my thick wild hair and olive skin tone. I really looked at my mother, and can't believe I didn't notice just how lovely she was until now. Her features were small and perfectly proportioned. Her eyebrows arched just slightly over her clear green eyes. Her fair white skin was still smooth and healthy. And her red-brown hair flowed wonderfully down her shoulders. I inherited her beautiful eyes, but none of her fine feminine features. I'm guessing I looked like my father; a sharp angled face with an easy, handsome intensity.

"He instructed me to name the child 'Angell', regardless of it's sex," my mother continued. "I nodded and then we fell asleep." She took a breath at this point, as though mentally preparing herself for what she was to say next. "Then the morning came, and brought the illuminati with it. The alarm swept over the city and we were jolted awake. Sabaton immediately knew what was to transpire. He took up the sword of body and mind and looked into my eyes. And it was there that I knew, that this would be the last time I would ever see him again.

He told me that he loved me more than anything in his life, and I told him the same. And then he was gone; to engage the illuminati before they could reach the city.

The battle was long and grand. Sabaton's mighty sword was unrivaled as he tore through their ranks. Mind you this account was told to me afterwards, Sabaton instructed me to hide myself away before the battle began, as to protect you, our unborn child.

And then the battle was over, and the illuminati were defeated, but the price, especially to me, was one severe."

I bit my bottom lip as my mother paused for breath. I had a terrible feeling I knew what was coming next.

"Sabaton fought gallantly against an entire army of mages, and although victorious, the strain was too great on his body. He died soon after." My mother cast her eyes down as she let the grief of her memory hang in the air. "There was no funeral, as there was no body left to bury. Many recall seeing a wondrous green light, and Sabaton's body whisked away in it's glow. Though there was no proper burial, there was a seemingly endless ceremony dedicated to his honor and his sacrifice. And then there was celebration. Days and days it went on; it came to be known as the first Carnivalium.

Though the day was meant to be joyous, I took no part in the festivities. I simply stayed in city's inn; in the bed that me and Sabaton had shared not but one night ago. I did not regret, nor was I angry at fate for what had happened to my beloved, but it was there that I knew I couldn't bear to be a planeswalking adventurer anymore. It wasn't just my stake I thought of, but yours as well, Angell. So it was then That I walked into the aether one last time and let fate take me where it will. It brought me to the plane of earth; largely mana-less and populated enough to simply blend into the masses. You were born soon after, and everything beforehand, seemed like but a dream."

So that was the tale of my parents, and how I came to be. My father Sabaton died as a legendary hero. I swelled with pride and was honored to be the daughter of such a man. But then something occurred to me. Something that seemed obvious enough, but still needed to be addressed. "Mother…by the time I arrived on Terra-Fausta, the illuminati had been defeated hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Wouldn't that mean that you would be…And _I_ would be…?"

"Centuries dead?" she chuckled. "Dear Angell, do you honestly think time has any relevance or importance between eternities?"

No, of course it wouldn't.

"I thought that living on earth, with me calling an end to my planeswalking; you could have a life that was as normal as possible. But of course, there's just no keeping a born planeswalker ignorant," my mother said sadly. "As soon as you discovered that game with your friends, I new I would eventually lose you to the eternities."

Of course she meant me discovering magic the gathering. Now that I think back on it, it does seen strange just how quickly I responded to the game and it's concept. I would remember pouring over my shoeboxes of spare cards, imagining casting each and every spell I found there. I poured over graphic novels and web comics; spent hours on the wizard's website learning of the different planes of existence, and fantasizing about visiting every last one of them.

Whenever I played the game, I felt so free and alive. I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I knew then that it was my dormant spark responding as it would to such familiar stimulation.

I remember the night my mother came into my room. She seemed so forlornly withdrawn then, but of course, she knew what was about to happen; that my spark would awaken that night, and hurl me across the multiverse.

It was then that a thought struck me like a lighting bolt. "Mother, if you could sense a spark in me, could you sense one in Saints as well?"

My mother's face darkened just slightly. "Saints…" she sighed. "I could sense the spark within him, yes. It was a cold and murderous thing. It frightened me. It was something that I was all too aware of, but I couldn't bring myself to bring it to your attention. I brought you to earth in an attempt to maybe shelter you from a life of magic and danger, and in that, of course, I had done you a tragic injustice. By keeping you ignorant to your true nature, your spark worked on it's own accord, unwittingly bringing you into contact with that of your own like. That's why you and Saints were drawn to one another, and why your mock battles were so particularly intense. Even if you were polar opposites, you were still one in the same."

I knew I couldn't be angry with my mother, could I? In her own way, she was trying to protect me. But of course, there was a stab of pain as well. I could have been born anywhere else in the multiverse, on a plane where my magical talents wouldn't have to be hidden; where I could flourish as a mage and accept my destiny as a planeswalker, rather than having an awkward and suddenly violent introduction. I opened my mouth to tell her this, but when I looked to her, I found something alarming. Her image had gone completely out of focus, it was as though I was looking at her through a veil of rushing water. I stood up in alarm. "Mother, what's happening?" It wasn't just her image now, all around me the tranquil landscape was rushing and blurring.

"Fear not, Angell," my mother said. "You're simply returning to consciousness. Our time together here has come to an end."

"But…" everything was going black, like the world was slowly fading away.

"I love you, Angell" my mother said.

And then she was gone, taking the light with her.

…...

I awoke at once. The first thing I remember seeing was a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. "Angell!" exclaimed their owner. Wylis was leaning over me, his face full of finally relieved concern. "By the green sun, I thought I'd never see your eyes again!"

I was lying on my back in a softly made bed. I was staring up at the cross-beamed wooden ceiling, trying to recall the details of my dream. Seeing my mother; learning of her adventures as a planeswalker; and of course, the most important detail of them all. I turned my head to look up at Wylis and said, "I understand everything now."

Wylis wore a look of polite confusion. "What do you mean?"

I raised myself to a sitting position, casting off the thick covers. "I mean _everything_. About what I am, why I'm here…everything." Then I chuckled with an offhand amusement. "Do you want to hear something funny?"

"Like what?" Wylis said.

"You ever heard of a guy named Sabaton?"

"Of course! He was the greatest hero of this plane!"

"Yeah well, he's my father."

Wylis looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe. "No wonder you're so amazing…" he said.

I cast a look around the room. This must have been Grador castle's infirmary. I was lying in one of several identical beds that lined the near wall, with another row on the opposite side of the room. The large windows let in the afternoon sunlight that gently warmed my skin. I now realized that my travel dress had been removed and was hanging over a chair at the foot of my bed, along with my sword and my boots. I was wearing a simple dressing gown for sleep. Being full of a restless and renewed energy, I wanted to be dressed and moving again as soon as possible.

I shimmied out of the bed, shivering slightly as my bare feet touched the stone floor, and took up my garments. My fingers were on the top button of my dressing gown when I suddenly remembered that Wylis was still in the room. "Ah-hem!" I said pointedly to him.

Wylis snapped out of the trance he seemed to be in. "Oh, dear! I mean, right of course…" he made haste from the room, closing the door behind him. I smiled a little, and found myself thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to have let him have stayed… I shook my head and dressed in my gear.

I exited the room and met Wylis just outside the door. We walked down the infirmary's corridor, the heels of my boots making a thudding 'click-clack' along the way. "Wylis, how long was I asleep?" I asked him, while pulling on my black gloves.

"Four days," he answered. "Your slumber was so deep, we feared it was more than simple sleep."

"And no sign of the black order?" I pressed.

"None. They've been disturbingly quiet these past few days."

I could feel Wylis looking at me. It was look as though he were not quite sure how to perceive exactly what I was saying. "What is it?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said. "You seem somehow…different."

"Different how? Like _bad_ different, or…"

"No. A good different. A _very_ good different."

I found myself smiling again.

We exited the infirmary, which was a low-ceilinged building separate from the castle itself. We were immediately swarmed by a group of people. They turned out to be the various attendants and faculty of the infirmary. My appearance seemed to set off an explosion amongst their ranks. "On Terra's eyes! The great angel has awoken again!" They immediately went into a fuss and made a show of escorting us into the castle's throne room. We climbed the stairs to Grador castle, along the way more and more city folk joined our ranks until we were a riot of noise and cheering.

The waves of humanity rolled through the corridors with me at the front, until we finally reached Grador's throne room. It was a grand space, more than capable of accommodating the crush of onlookers and well-wishers that flanked me and Wylis. And there on the dais, was the throne of Grador, where Holloway himself was alertly seated. He raised himself as I approached. Out of respect for the presence of royalty I took to one knee. "Please, mighty angel," the prince said sincerely. "Rise to your feet." I did so. "After the valor and amazing courage you displayed against the black order, it is most assuredly _we_ who must bow to _you_." Holloway went to one knee and the entirety of the room followed his example.

The prince's lover Lobelia approached me and took both my hands in hers. "Great angel…" she breathed with tears in her eyes. "There are no words that could possibly express my gratitude for your giving me life again. I-"

"How about…" I said, cutting her off. "Just 'thank you'" I said kindly.

Lobelia smiled, the tears rolling down her face. "Thank you," she whispered. I released her hands.

And then I felt it.

I don't know what the feeling was, but it was quite possibly the most tranquil and ethereal thing I have possibly felt. Though it was gentle, it was powerful, frighteningly so. Suddenly I was gently, but simultaneously outside of conscious control, compelled towards the dais.

I walked to Holloway's throne. I planted both feet firmly in it's seat and stood up proud and strait. I now commanded the attention of every person in the room. And I planned to use it well.

I slowly drew Kenziner from it's sheath, the steel singing as I did so. I sharpened my focus as Kenziner glowed with an intense white light, as white as the mana I was harnessing into it. With a dramatic sweep I raised Kenziner above my head and I was lost to all in a glorious explosion of light. When at last I came back into vision, there were gasps and exclamations and prayers. I opened my eyes and found my sight was no longer my own. Everything was washed in a brilliant flood of gold. Without my consent, my mouth opened as I began to speak. "_**My dear children, please rise to your feet. Stand in the full splendor of which you were created.**_"

The castle folk stood up in timid wonderment at what they were seeing. "_**I know that this is indeed a trying time for you all, but as Agarma himself predicted, the prophecy will hold true. The light of divine deliverance shall be cast upon you all.**_"

I was speaking, but at the same time I wasn't. The voice and mine, we spoke as one; I was it's; and it was mine. "_**Know that it does pain my heart beyond any and all eternities that I cannot intervene personally in this conflict. But rest knowing that my chosen will carry out her destiny. And in her triumph, may you sing glory unto the daybreaker!**_"__

And then at once the entity was gone from my being. Reality washed over me and I found myself standing in Holloway's throne, facing the sea of gaping mouths pointed in my direction. And how in the world did I get up here? I was aware of holding Kenziner above my head. I eased it back into it's sheath and stepped from my pedestal. I approached Wylis and whispered to him, "What did I just do?"

"I…I…" he was completely lost for words.

But just then from the crowd there came of mighty roar of "GLORY UNTO THE DAYBREAKER!" and the masses erupted.

"Whatever happened," Wylis said finally, "It was amazing."

And so it was. With the cheers and prayers and four days of deep sleep giving me renewed energy, I believed it was time to move on. "We should be going, Wylis," I said. "I will not give the black order time to recuperate. Our time to strike is now."

"By your word, Angell." he said back.

And from there I left the throne room, the masses parting like the red sea before me. I had renewed strength; renewed knowledge; and most of all, renewed hope. I now truly realized just what my purpose was. I was a weapon of light; the all-embodying instrument of divine might. There was nothing that could stop me.

The black order would tremble before me.

…...

Wylis watched as Angell walked through the crowd gathered here in the immense room. Holloway clapped a hand on his shoulder as he said, "She is truly amazing, isn't she? She really is the child of prophecy."

"Yes…she is…" Wylis was watching Angell's departure with that of a glazed and longing intensity.

Holloway chuckled aloud as he said playfully, "A might distracted are we now?"

Wylis chuckled himself. "Of course I am," he said jovially. "It's not everyday that you fall in love with an angel."

*End of chapter 16*

**A/N: Aww snap, son! It's ya boi Skunkworks back wit anotha** **update! Holla atcha fanfics**, **na meen?** ***Laughs at self uproariously for five minutes* Okay, enough of that. Just moving the story along here, albeit at a relatively slow pace. On that note, have a happy new year's fan fiction! My resolution for this year is to have a resolution for this year…yeah, still working on it. I'm posting this now at 6:35 pm, so I have five and a half hours to make one up, talk about procrastinating!**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you soon.**

**-B.D. Skunkworks **


	17. Chapter 17

*Chapter 17*

All was quiet. The space was empty; permeated with a self-imposed and all-encompassing silence. There was seemingly nothing that could break the tranquil and stony stillness.

Except the entrance of a certain necromancer.

Liliana flung the heavy stones doors open with small concussion of mana and a careless flick of her wrist. She stood just on the threshold of the small building. She was as eager to enter the place as she was repulsed by it. She could sense two conflicting forces of energy in this place. One gave her comfort, the other made her skin crawl.

She walked down the isle of pews, the sturdy heels of her thigh-high boots making a muffled click-clak on the carpeted stone floor. She stopped just behind a figure that happened to be kneeling at this little church's altar. While he seemed to take no immediate notice of her, Liliana knew better than to assume that he was choosing to completely ignore her. When too many

of these silent moments had passed, Liliana finally said out loud, "Honestly, Avidoz, what god could you possibly be praying to that would lower themselves to heeding your call?"

There was a pause before his answer; the brief elapse of time one would suffer when drawn so suddenly from the comfort of their personal train of thought. "Not every church is a place of faith," Avidoz said. "Especially seeing as I've no god to pray to."

Liliana perched her hands on her hips in agitation. "I must admit that it took quite some time for me to find you in this place. This little chapel of yours is so...isolated."

"All the better to seek a personal solace, no matter how brief." was Avidoz's response.

Liliana was growing quite tired of his patiently flippant remarks. He was _her_ plaything, and he was going to start acting like it. "Rise and face me," she said sharply. Avidoz did so, with a slow compliance. As he was quite a few inches taller than she was, Liliana had to angle her head upwards and lock her eyes where she knew his to be underneath the shadow veil locked over his head. "Your defeat at Grador was as humiliating as it was unacceptable. I expected you to assume better control over the black sun's child. His impulsiveness has cost us dearly."

"Be that as it may," Avidoz said. "Our enemies' wherewithal to call forth the Host of Herons was outside of our ability to foresee or endure. The result would have been the same either way."

"You so willingly admit defeat?" Liliana said.

"No," was the response. "It now dawns on me that our foe is obviously more powerful than we assumed. But it matters not, for I just need to enlist a certain ally for our cause that will easily tip the balance in our favor."

"And just who might that be?" Liliana asked, skepticism plainly coloring her voice.

"He resides not on this plane," Avidoz said. "Retrieving him is simply a matter of course."

Liliana let her impatience escape her in a huff of breath. "Make it so," she said. "I expect your return shortly."

Avidoz turned on the spot and vanished. Not just from this chapel, but from Terra-Fausta entirely. Liliana followed his fading presence through her planeswalker perception until it was gone completely. Left alone in this place, Liliana was left to suffer the full pressure of her thoughts. She sat down slowly on the very first pew on the isle, the one closest to the altar. There she remained for an indeterminate length of time. It seemed as though she was fated to never be mobile again. It was here, and only here, in the comfort of silence and isolation, did Liliana break down. A guttural cry of seemingly animal-esque anguish escaped her. She buried her face in her hands, her scream muffled slightly by her fingers. And she stayed like this, for many, many hours to come.

…...

There was a man in the tavern. Actually, there were _many _men in the tavern. It just so happens that all the other men were staying as far away from this one as they could.

He swilled his cup of mead idly in his right hand, which was raised just halfway to his mouth. There was a mark on the back of his hand, a mark that no one here could recognize. It was more than just a simple tattoo, it was a rune; a charm you could call it. It granted him strange and immeasurable power, as such, that he was wisely left alone.

He sat on the far right side of the bar, far enough to not be bothered by the intoxicated patrons, but close enough to signal the barkeep for a refill. He smiled crookedly with a self-dazed satisfaction; the alcohol was having it's desired effect. Rationality was slowly falling away to a delightful haze of numbness.

And then he felt something else.

It was as surprising as it was familiar. It wasn't just what he was feeling, it was _who _he was feeling that surprised him. With an almost bored expectation, he turned to his left and there he was, seated on the stool next to him. "Well, well, Avidoz Stalingrad," the man drawled. "What brings you back to the mud puddle of Gallendor?"

"I've a certain business here," Avidoz said back. "I'm sure you already know what it is."

"So tell me," the man went on, ignoring Avidoz's response. "Who guards the stone now that you've fallen from grace?"

"The stone is in a safe place, although that is not the issue here."

"Oh, right," the man said. "What I really meant to ask was, what's life like now that you're Liliana's bitch?"

Avidoz gracefully ignored that particular statement. "I've no time or patience for your banter, Geminadi. I'm here to call you on a favor."

To the outside observer, this particular scene may have looked completely inexplicable. On the other hand, it might not have. As Avidoz was under the veil of hideous visage, Geminadi appeared to be holding a detailed conversation with himself. This could be possibly be put down to the alcohol clouding his mind, or maybe he was just plain crazy. Or both. "I owe not you or any of your like any favors," Geminadi said. "If that's your intended business, then you've wasted your time."

"I see," Avidoz said, with a mocking thoughtfulness. "So this is how rogue agents of the Dimir think. Awol from one guild, hunted by another; you don't seem to be in any position to tell me what you _don't _owe."

"House Dimir holds dominion over me no longer," Geminadi said. "And the the Orzhov can go screw themselves."

"I wonder what the Obzedat would say to that?"

"What do you want!?" Barked Geminadi, balking at the mention of the ghost council. Several tavern goers turned to stare in his direction.

"I have a problem" Avidoz began.

"Really?" quipped Geminadi.

"Luckily, it is one easily handled," Avidoz continued. "A certain white order planeswalker has been giving me quite some trouble. My proposal to you is that you eliminate this problem for me, and a certain council of ghosts will remain ignorant to your presence here."

"Well, don't you drive a hard bargain?" Geminadi scoffed. He downed the remainder of his mead and stood up groggily. "So where did you say this planeswalker was again?"

"The plane of Terra-Fausta," Avidoz answered.

"Right...Terra...Fisher..." Geminadi slurred. He wobbled away from the counter and the barkeep called after him, demanding Geminadi pay his bill. Geminadi turned angrily and raised the charm on the back of his right hand. It glowed a deep, black-lit blue and the man before him crumpled into a pile of ash. The patrons of the tavern were shocked absolutely silent. "Somebody uh..." Geminadi twirled his hand in several lazy circles, trying to coerce his hazy brain into forming a complete sentence. "...Clean that up..." He then stared off into the distance for a while. While his face was blank, his eyes had adopted a thought-sharpened emptiness that was all to familiar to the others of his like. "Found it," he said. And he took a step forward and disappeared from the tavern, on his way to Terra-Fausta.

…...

Four days. That's how long me and Wylis have been in Lu-Restia; and there has been no sign of the back order whatsoever.

I stood at the open window of my inn room, surveying the skyline of the city. It was just about noon, and the abundant direct sunlight was just beginning to warm up the world and it's inhabitants. My primary concern was of course the black order, or rather, their sudden lack of presence. But there was also, the pressure of more personal thoughts as well. I stood recalling every vivid detail of my deep-sleep dream. I saw my mother for the first time since I left earth. I learned that she was a planeswalker from Naya, and had many an adventure in her time. I wonder now that if my mother was worried at all about me, that she would come here to Terra-Fausta and maybe aid us in the conflict here. I'm more than sure she wanted to, but could she? After giving up planeswalking for so long, did she still have the ability? After not using their spark for a given time, does it go dormant? Or maybe it finally settled itself having completed it's true divined itinerary. My mother, Andrea, having walked and battled her way across the multiverse to meet her destiny in love; maybe her spark finally felt at ease, and needed no longer to seek personal challenge or conflict.

And then of course, there was my father, Sabaton. He was the chosen of the green sun zenith. A proud and handsome auriok warrior who gave his life in a past battle here on this very plane, and his name has been celebrated throughout the ages since then. I was proud and honored to inherit his looks and his legacy. For now I had my own battle to fight here, and I knew that I would do my father proud.

And then, strangest of all, I found myself thinking about Wylis. The image of his smiling face would dance at the edges of my vision, and I would feel that same curiously startled heat spread from the pit of my stomach. I never gave any real thought as to how attractive Wylis was, or rather, how attracted to him I might be. I can remember quite a few instances where I found him openly staring at me. That was good, right? Does he like the way I look? When guys stare at you...that means...ugh...I'm no good at this, I'm just confusing myself.

There was suddenly a series of soft knocks on the wooden door. I knew who it was instantly. "Come in," I called.

Wylis walked into the room with a jovial, "Top of the morning, great angel!"

"It's noon," I said back simply.

"Well, having just woke, it's pretty much morning to me," he said back. For someone who just rolled out of bed, he looked pretty fantastic. His shoulder length, fair blonde hair had survived sleep without so much as a wisp out of place. His eyes were bright and alert, and his mischievous little smile was well intact. Okay, he was _definitely_ hot. I had to turn to look out the window again. "Any sign of our friends?" he said with a suddenly serious tone.

"No. They've been keeping quite the low profile," I said.

Suddenly he was all smiles again. "Well in that case..." without warning or preamble, he grabbed my hand and whisked me out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the building.

"Hey, where are we going?" I said as we ran through the streets hand-in-hand.

"Something I just discovered last night, you'll love it!" Wylis called back. He lead me to the gates of the city where we both stopped, just slightly out of breath. It was here that I found a magnificently suited riding horse tethered just at the gate. "Arranged this at the crack of dawn," Wylis said as he unhitched the horse. He looked to me, "Do you know how to...?" I walked right past him and expertly mounted up with a few fluid motions. "I should have known," he chuckled. Wylis mounted just behind me and took up the reins. In no time we were galloping over the plains. I had since become accustomed to the jarring rhythm of riding horseback, what I wasn't used to however, was doing it in tandem, especially being so immediately close and confined to someone who I'm very sure at this point that I'm falling for.

Wylis' arms formed a protective cage around me, I could feel his warm breath on my neck, or maybe it was just the wind...I don't know, but I was feeling hot and funny again.

After maybe half an hour of travel, Wylis brought us to a stop. Wylis helped me dismount, his hands closing around my waist as he guided my descent. I noticed he kept his eyes locked determinedly on the ground. I surveyed the area. While it was beautiful to be sure, it didn't look any different from any plains I've seen before. "So this is what you wanted to show me, grass?" I said.

"It's what's in the grass, m'lady, that I wanted you to see," Wylis said as he knelt down to he ground. "Have a look."

I joined him and found he had his hands cupped around something there on the ground. He opened his hands to show me and I gave a little gasp. "Is that...?"

"It's exactly what you think it is," Wylis beamed. "A baby sunpetal."

I leaned in just a little closer. It was identical to the sunpetal flower I knew from the artwork back home, only much, much, smaller. I could feel just the tiniest sparks of white mana coming from it. I'm sure Wylis was responding to the green mana it was giving off, as we couldn't pick up on or harness the other's color. Completely fascinated, I gently grasped the stem of the tiny sunflower and plucked it from he earth. The petals seemed to flicker out of existence, as though I had pulled the plug of an electrical appliance back home. "Oh, no I killed it!" I despaired.

Wylis chuckled lightly and pointed out further into the grove. There I could see many more of the solar flowers poking their way up through the ground. "Fear not, for there are many more where that one came from." We knelt down over another flower. "We can keep it alive if we try," he said. He cupped his hands around the stem and I followed his lead. "As we pluck it from the ground, be sure to focus your mana into it. Your white and my green."

I nodded and we gave the flower a tiny pull, separating it from the earth. I focused my white mana into it and Wylis focused his green as well, and the little sunpetal thrived in our joined hands. We stood up and admired it's miniature splendor. "It's glorious, Wylis," I said. I looked to him now, his beautiful face illuminated by the tiny dancing pyre flies of live mana. That's when I knew, this was the moment. I wanted bring this out in a subtle manor, but at the same time I wanted him to know I was serious. "Wylis," I began. "When I was asleep in the Grador infirmary, you were the first person I saw when I woke. How long were you at my bedside?"

Wylis looked back to me, I knew he was sensing my invitation. He drew a slow breath and said softly, "I never left."

It was all I needed. Surprisingly though, it was Wylis who made the first move. He leaned down just slightly and met my mouth with his. He parted my lips with a smooth expertise that told me he had done this many times before. He kissed me slowly, with the gentle intensity of a long-fantasized passion. A wonderfully heated haze replaced my brain and I wanted to lose myself in his body. I tilted my head upwards, deepening our kiss. I was lost; I was euphoric; I was suddenly under attack. My mind came back to me and brought with it an urgent message. I pulled away from Wylis and snapped my focus onto the city we had traveled from. There was a spark there I could sense. It was definitely the black order.

Wylis looked to me in alarm. "Angell, are you alright? Did I do something wrong?" he turned to the point in the distance I was staring, and then back to me. "Uh-oh. Planeswalker mode."

"It's the black order!" I said.

"Alright, let's move!" Wylis said back. We remounted our riding horse and galloped as fast as we could back to Lu-Restia.

…...

This place was strange to Geminadi. It was so...small. This little crater of a city was nothing but a speck compared to the Ravnican splendor he was used to. Then again, he had spent most of his time in the Dimir underground network, so almost anything was smaller than Ravnica. He brushed passed many a person, not caring in the least if he bumped them aside as he went. He was on a mission, and the sooner he was done, the better. And then, right here in the square, did he feel it, the spark of another planeswalker, a white spark.

"Show yourself, planeswalker!" he called. Several city folk stared at him in alarm; just what was he doing, calling out planeswalkers here in the middle of the square like this?

And there before him materialized his target. He was wearing tattered white traveling cloaks and it looked as though he had not shaved in a while. "Now just who in the seventh heaven could you be?" the man said with apparent boredom.

"You're a planeswalker of the white order, are you not?" Geminadi said.

"I might be," the man said while drawing his sabre. It was here that Geminadi noticed the man was missing his right arm. Several city folk were running to alert the peace keepers. Two mages were about to do battle in the town square!

"Well, it just so happens that I was ordered to eliminate a white order planeswalker," Geminadi said. "I was not ordered, however, to practice discretion." He flexed his right hand and the mana-infused charm glowed to life.

"Enough mystery, just who are you?" the one armed man said.

"I am Geminadi Bolverk. And I am the last thing you will see." he raised the charm on his right hand and all was lost in it's fatal glow.

*End of chapter 17*

**A/N: Hey, me again. I have to apologize for another long wait between chapters. But I have a perfectly applicable (and somewhat saddening) excuse for my absence. **

** My computer was stolen.**

**I guess that's the price I pay living in the suburbs of west Philly; high crime, low income. Anyway, I obviously have replaced my rig and am attempting to move on with my life (granted my work, music, and entire poetry manuscript were in that computer, not to worry though, I have it all written in a good old spiral notebook).**

** So anyway, thank you guys (and gals) for the faves, follows, views, and reviews. I'll see you again soon.**

** -B.D. Skunkworks**


	18. Chapter 18

*Chapter 18*

Saints snapped awake with a huge gasp of breath and a violent shudder. The sweat that plastered his clothing to his body was colder than the heavy beads of condensation that clung miserably to the walls and floor of this place. Saints raised himself slowly to a sitting position while trying to steady his breathing. Saints had lost all track of time down here; in this dungeon his mistress had confined him to. His failure to yet again exterminate their enemy had proven to be unforgivable in her eyes. Now he had nothing to do but wane the hours and keep track of his nightmares.

But oddly enough, they weren't really nightmares he was having, they were more like... memories; the nightmarish part being that upon his awakening, he was cursed to forget them. For Liliana had cast the curse of oblivion upon him. He remembered her standing over him, her hand raised as she wove the curse around his mind. She then left him with the words, "The first step to peace is to learn how to forget." She left the dungeon and Saints was left to suffer in solitude.

Despite his misery, Saints was oddly well-rested, but at the same time, in desperate need of sleep. The curse was washing over him again and his mind was growing hazy, no amount of willpower could keep his eyes open at this point. The curse fell over him as he was lost to oblivion.

/

Godric St. Ivan climbed the stairs to the second floor bedroom of his two story house. He held in his hand a small flask of an unknown contents. He opened the door to his bedroom and found just who he was looking for. "Oh, I hardly heard you come in," his wife said from the bed.

Godric crossed the room and joined her in the bed. "Oh please, with the racquet I made opening that front door?" They shared a laugh and a kiss as Godric caressed his wife's swollen belly. Their baby was due in less than a month; they were expecting a boy, and they couldn't be happier. Godric smiled as he admired his wife, Kennedy. He always found her beautiful, in a strikingly simple kind of way. Her skin was a rich, dark brown, and her eyes were wide, bright, and dark. She was just a year younger than he was (At thirty-two) but her face still held a rounded girlish charm that he couldn't help falling in love with.

Kennedy noticed the small flask Godric had brought with him into the room. "Oh, dear. More of that awful herbal concoction?" she asked.

"Indeed," he said back cheerily, giving the flask a small shake. "It's important to keep Tracy's strength up to ensure he is born healthy and strong."

"How can something that tastes so bad be so good for you?" Kennedy said with a sigh. She unscrewed the lid and took a few swigs, grimacing as the taste burned down her throat. "Eugh..."

Godric laughed lightly, "All for a wonderful cause, my dear." He looked at the clock. "There's a small matter I must attend to; if you'll excuse me, my dear."

Now Kennedy laughed. "I love it when you adopt that period talk," she said. "It always make me think..."

"Think what?"

Kennedy furrowed her eyebrows, apparently scrutinizing what she was about to say. "It makes me think that...you seem to come from...somewhere...else."

Godric smiled at this and silently left the room. He trotted down the stairs and came to a stop at the living room window. Night had fallen outside and a thin veil of clouds hid the stars from view. He stared into the distance for a short while, apparently looking for something beyond the reach of the horizon. And then, in a time lapse no longer than a blink, he was gone from the spot. Colors blurred his mind as he sped along his path, luckily he did not have very far to go, and in just another instant, he arrived at his destination.

He appeared in a brightly lit kitchen. There was a woman poking through the contents of her refrigerator. Suddenly she straitened up. She swung the door closed and turned to face him. Apparently, she was not shocked in the least at the sudden appearance of this person in her home. She simply regarded him for a moment before saying, "Hello, Godric."

"May I speak with you, miss Vhelmir?" Godric said back.

The woman stared back at him through her vibrant green eyes. "Don't use my native name," she said. "It's Cameron now; Andrea Cameron." she fell silent for a moment after that. "What do you want?"

"Just a moment of conversation," Godric said back. "Future parent, to future parent."

Andrea's hands went instinctively to her rounded belly. "Fine," she said. She crossed to her living room couch and sat down gingerly. "Say what you have to say."

Godric joined her, careful to keep a small separation between the two of them. He stared at his dark-skinned hands for a few moments before he began. "I believe it's been about seven years since I was banished to this plane. And in the year before that, the hell plane of Phyrexia invaded my home of Vandhallia-"

"I know all of this, Godric," Andrea said. "I don't need a history lecture."

Godric continued as though she hadn't spoken. "I was a planeswalker charged with protecting the plane and all it's inhabitants. Many fought by my side; we had an incredibly formidable force of mages and soldiers. But with me being a man of science and my studies, I almost couldn't help being infatuated with Phyrexia's innovations. Their technology was years ahead of anything we could muster. Their quest to make the world...ideal...was one I could see myself undertaking.

But, of course, I fought for my homeland, and successfully too. But along the way I absorbed as much information about our foes as I could. I collected many a sample of their glistening oil. The effect it had on living creatures was astounding! The smallest drop could trigger changes in organisms that were not part in their evolutionary cycle. I could take nature's course into my own hands! I could not only bend the double helix, I could break it! Unfortunately, my comrades didn't see the beauty in my work as I did. And I was then reported to the authorities. But I would not allow them to take my work away from me, I wouldn't! So I fled the plane, and hence, found myself here on earth."

Andrea huffed a breath of irritation. "So not only are you insane, you are also a coward."

"This plane, earth, was perfect for my studies." Godric seemed to have adopted a kind of grim determination in his speech pattern, Andrea seemed to know he needed to say this. "Introducing a non magical folk to the wonders of magical phenomena. But obviously, I had to start small; unleashing untold magical wonders from an inexplicable time or place would have drawn too much attention to me. So I continued my experiments with the glistening oil. Small creatures; rats, dogs, and cats I could snatch from the allies. All showed amazing response to the oil, but the results were unstable, I needed a larger host.

And then I met Kennedy. My dear, dear Kennedy." Godric paused just a moment here, for an emotional reload, as it were. "I've never met a woman quite like her in all my years. She was so sweet and trusting, innocent and beautiful. The emotions she stirred inside me were as numerous as they were unknown. She offered to take me in, and I didn't refuse her. Over time, our love bloomed, and I had completely forgotten of my troubles. My life on Vandhallia seemed like but a dream at that point. And then, of course, Kennedy wanted my child. And I knew right away that could not happen. A non-magical body cannot host the seed of a planeswalker. If the child is indeed fated to become a planeswalker, the spark they are carrying, no matter how minute it may be at that stage of development, would burn the host alive from the inside. No, Kennedy did not have the strength to carry my child, but I thought, what if I could _give_ her the strength?"

Andrea stayed silent at the rest of this. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. "Before her insemination, I gave her a concoction of my own invention." Godric massaged his temples, as though he were under great stress at the moment. "I had seen the effect the oil had on much smaller creatures, so I used Kennedy as my next test subject. I gave her miniscule doses at first; hardly even a drop mixed in with simple black tea. When I noticed no negative changes in her, I increased the dosage. And soon she was carrying my child, as healthy and whole as can be.

It's now, and only now, when she's so close to giving birth, that I actually think of my son's sake. Will there be side affects? Are they reversible? Have I killed him before he can even be born? I was thinking of Kennedy's sake and neglected that of my son's. Andrea, what have I done?"

Andrea took just a small moment to prepare her response. "I don't know how to answer you, Godric. I've no idea what you've done, and I don't care to know. If you can't respect the well being of those closest to you, then there's nothing I can say to you. Now leave."

Godric nodded several times as though he had expected such a response. He rose from the couch and crossed to the window. He paused for just a second and turned back to Andrea. "You're not that far from giving birth either," he observed. "Boy or girl?"

"I don't know yet," Andrea said back.

"Have you decided on a name?"

Andrea looked as though she couldn't believe he was asking her this. "...Angell," she said finally. Godric nodded and then vanished from the room.

/

Saints vaulted himself awake. What did he just see? That was his father he saw, he was talking to miss Cameron, Angell's mother, but why? Saints clamped his eyes shut, trying to fight against the curse that was already robbing him of this memory. That woman, Kennedy, that was his mother! His father kept many pictures of her around their house on earth, but he was told she died after she gave birth to him. Some inexplicable type of poisoning was to blame. Saints clutched his head, as though he could hold he fading memory within his skull that way. His father had been a planeswalker, but from where? He had given her...after he...what was his dream about again? It was no good, the curse of oblivion had completely wiped his mind of the memory, there was nothing left but blank empty fog.

Saints reared his head back and screamed. He screamed from the bottom of his emptiness. Every pain he had ever felt, every pain he would _ever_ feel poured out of him in this singular deafening wail. And it went on, and on, and on through the night.

…...

Jeriah was blinded by the intensely strange light that emanated from the charm on Geminadi's hand. There was a brief sensation of him being pulled off the ground, and then suddenly, it was over. Jeriah looked himself over. "Well, that was...something," he drawled.

Confusion crossed Geminadi's face briefly. "I figured a planeswalker would be immune," he said with a dismissive shake of his head. "It hardly matters." He tapped into his mana flow and Jeriah was baffled at his mix of black and blue. Dual mages were rare enough, but one like this... "Duskmantle Guildmage!" A pale human wizard appeared by Geminadi's side.

Jeriah tapped his own white mana flow and cast his first spell, "Fiend Hunter!" A wandering cleric appeared before him. He wielded a holy staff and chain against his target. The Guildmage was immediately rendered helpless against the enchanted binding.

"No matter," Geminadi scoffed. "Sage's row denizen!" A strange blue-skinned man appeared from the aether and stood by for his call. "And as for you," he said directly to the fiend hunter. Geminadi raised the charm on his right hand and the strange black glow enveloped him. The fiend hunter could not even cry out as he crumpled into black ashes. The Duskmantle Guildmage was free from his exile. "Now for the fun part," Geminadi cackled. The blue-skinned denizen twirled his arms in a strange pattern, try as he might, Jeriah could not avert his eyes from the movement. Then he felt his mind being invaded. Jeriah could feel his reservoir of uncast spells being diminished from his very being.

Jeriah snapped back to reality in time to find the guildmage charging for his throat. He had just enough time to gather his wits and his mana to cast a timely, "Restoration Angel!" And as quick as a flash, a lovely guardian angel appeared just before him. She enveloped Jeriah in her white-feathered wings and they were both gone from the battle field in a blink. The guildmage, now over-committed to his attack, stumbled and fell over as his blow found nothing but empty air. And just as quickly as they vanished, Jeriah and his angel re-appeared. Without missing a beat, Jeriah cast, "Rebuke!" upon the guildmage, who exploded in a burst of white mana.

Geminadi seemed simply amused by this. "A clever move, eximancer,"he said. "But our battle is just beginning." Geminadi focused his mana for another spell, but never got the chance to unleash it. The arrow that pierced his creature's brain saw to that. He snapped his focus onto the incoming threat; a swarm of armored soldiers was heading this way. They let fly a storm of arrows that showered the battling planeswalkers. Jeriah's angel was impaled multiple times as she screamed in agony and burst into ash. Jeriah took an arrow to the back and fell face-first into the ground.

Geminadi took in the force approaching him. Slaying this many would be no trouble, he had just the spell in mind too. But then something else caught his focus. The incoming presence of a spark; a _powerful_ spark. He whirled around and could see two figures fast approaching on horseback, one male and the other female. He could not pinpoint exactly which was the wielder of the spark, but it hardly mattered, they would both die along with the rest.

Before their mount could come to a stop, one of the figures leaped from it's back and turned to face him. It was the female, and Geminadi knew instantly she was the wielder of the spark. The first thought that came to his mind (and which he didn't bother suppressing), was how stricken he was by her beauty. She was young; quite a few years so than himself, but their was something about the the way she held herself; he could sense the confident ferocity of her oncoming womanhood; the critical loathing of the gaze from her clear green eyes. Geminadi's spark flared to life. _This_ was the planeswalker he had been searching for. He burned with the excitement of engaging her in battle, and with something else that he had next to no hope of explaining. He chose to push it aside for now; battle was waiting, and his spark would not be denied the call.

*End of Chapter 18*

-**A/N :**

** Was this chapter too short? It seems a little on the short side to me...oh well, nothing like a cliff hanger to keep ya comin' back, eh? I'll just take this moment again to thank anyone who gave this story a read, and for the faves, follows, and positive reviews. I'll see you all again soon.**

** -B.D. Skunkworks**


	19. Chapter 19

*Chapter 19*

"We're getting closer!" I shouted. The thunder of our horse's hooves rolled with that of the wind in my ears as me and Wylis rode as fast as we dared back towards Lu-Restia. We crashed through the gates as the dark presence grew heavier on my mind. We rode through the streets as city folk, obviously sensing our itinerary, pointed us toward the threat. I of course had no need of their navigational assistance, I just needed to focus on the spark we were chasing.

We entered the square at top speed and Wylis shouted out, "I see someone!" I saw him too. His gaze was locked firmly on us as we approached.

Before Wylis could bring our horse to a stop, I dismounted sideways and jumped to the ground. I landed easily, my long skirt rippling as I did so. I must have been no more than ten yards from this new enemy. He stood firm, with a tempered excitement as I surveyed the scene. The square held me, the enemy planeswalker, and a handful of peace keepers. I locked eyes on my planeswalker opponent as I slowly approached him. I took slow confident strides, one foot crossed in front of the next. Quite obviously he was here to challenge _me_, and I would take my sweet time answering.

I raised my right hand and pointed down an empty alley way. Without moving my gaze from my enemy I said to the peace keepers, "Leave this area at once. Round up any pedestrians, tell them to lock their doors, and raise the alarm. The black order has returned." Without hesitation they scattered and did as they were told. I really studied my enemy now; he looked to be in his very late twenties at the least. His tunic and trousers were long, but cut off at the ankles and wrists. His hair was jet-black and was cut tidily across his head. Now that I was this close to him I could see directly into his eyes. They were strange eyes; at the moment they were full of a locally distant intensity that I could only liken to the planeswalker kind. I took a breath and said, "Who are you? And where did you come from?"

The man adopted a pose of almost mock formality, "My name is Geminadi Bolverk," he said. "And I know now that beyond any reasonable doubt, that _you_ are the planeswalker I was sent to exterminate. One look at you told me that."

"Sent by whom?" I said. I knew that him being a walker made it highly unlikely that he was even from this plane, but having been _sent_ here made his presence another puzzle altogether.

"Let me just say that you may or may not know him very well," Geminadi said. "But enough of that. I did not come halfway around the eternities just to talk. Now face me, planeswalker!" He tapped into his mana flow and it was then that I sensed what I could not sense before. Along with the black mana that weighed on my mind originally, there was a presence of something else as well. An uncanny speed of thought; a complex mastery of deception; the power of blue mana. He was a dual mage.

I stood firm and reached around my back for Kenziner...only to find the space empty. My eyes darted in the direction I knew the inn to be. I had left my weapon in my room, a truly fledgling mistake. However, panic was the furthest thing from my mind. I had no need of a weapon to fell my enemy. I was a planeswalker; I _was_ a weapon. I focused my white mana throughout my being and cast around my mind for my first spell. Just as both me and my opponent's mana flows were peaking, there was suddenly the deeply deafening toll of many bell towers around us.

Geminadi's head snapped upwards in alarm. He I both knew now that every peacekeeper in the city was on their way to this spot. He looked to me now, his face a mask of carefully controlled disappointment. "Looks like our battle will have to wait, planeswalker," he said.

"So it may seem," I said back.

Geminadi looked over his shoulder, having heard the first wave of footfalls fast approaching our would-be battleground. "If I could ask one thing of you," he said to me.

My response took a moment. What in the word could he possibly want to ask me now? "What is it?"

"Your name."

For some strange reason, this unnerved me. There was a startling simplicity in his tone. It was as if his desire for the answer outweighed his actual need for it. I had a feeling I was gratifying more than just his ego by answering. "My name is Angell," I said back.

"Angell..." A strangely content look crossed Geminadi's face, but only for a moment. The peacekeepers have arrived in force, and he had no other choice but to take flight.

The armored peacekeepers flooded the square just as Geminadi vanished into the aether. It was then, and only then, did I notice something; or rather, _someone_. The person was lying face down on the cobbled street with an arrow sticking out of their back. And then the recognition hit me like a lightning bolt. "Jeriah!" I rushed over to him, the peacekeepers hastily moving to make room. I knelt down beside him. He was absolutely motionless. I knew better than to assume he was dead; I had seen a planeswalker die before; his body would not be here if he was not still alive. "Jeriah." I called his name loud enough as so he could not mistake my voice. I had a feeling that if anyone could rouse him, I could.

And in one shockingly swift movement, Jeriah pushed himself up to a kneeling position and let out a great roar. "Dammit that hurts!"

The peacekeepers onlooking the scene jumped back in surprise. I wasn't shocked in the least. I looked over his injury and said a mocking coolness, "Well, you do have an arrow in your back."

"No shit," Jeriah snapped. Using his lone arm, he reached around his back, grasped the arrow shaft, and tore it from his flesh with a pained grimace. A fresh explosion of blood followed the arrow's removal.

Wylis joined my side and said, "Is he going to be alright?"

"I think he'll be just fine," I said to him. And despite the gravity of the moment, I found myself staring into his eyes for just a little too long. I focused my attention back on Jeriah.

He had adopted a somewhat tense silence of preparation. He made a series of motions over himself that strongly resembled the sign of the cross I knew from back home. There was a spark of white mana and he whispered, "Angel's mercy," A momentary flash of light enveloped him and in no time he was right as rain. He climbed to his feet and did a stretch of his limbs.

"Jeriah, what exactly happened here?" I said to him.

"I'll tell you what," Jeriah snapped. "While you were out fraternizing," he said this with an unpleasant jerk of his head towards Wylis, "Some of us were actually being planeswalkers."

"And a great job you did at that," I said. I began pacing the circle of humanity that populated the square. "At any rate, we've got a new enemy, and he seems...different from the others somehow."

"Well if that charm on his hand is indicative of anything..."

"I saw it too. He's with the Dimir." I said.

"How would you know that?" Jeriah said. "Have you been to Ravnica?" Jeriah asked me this question with a careful wonderment that I wasn't sure he was even capable of. Apparently I had impressed him.

"I have, but not in the way you think," I said. It was amazing how traveling between worlds that were eternities apart was less than commonplace to him; but the concept of taking that same trip with hundreds of little paper cards probably would have blown his mind. "Anyway, I know how the Dimir work. They're informers and spies; they stick to the shadows and are good at covering their tracks. However, with our new friend being a planeswalker..."

"The bastard's got nowhere to hide," Jeriah chimed in. He looked all set to depart through the aether, but something stayed him. He turned to the crowd of peacekeepers and said, "Before I go, I want to know which one of you shot me." None of them would meet his eyes. And then, with an agitated huff, he vanished from the spot.

"So, what do we do now?" Wylis asked.

"Now we prepare," I said back. "The black order is back in play and we need a battle plan." I turned to the crowd of peacekeepers. "I want maps of the city," I said. "Every entrance and exit must be covered. And even in that event, I'll need dedicated eradication squads at the ready. No member of the black order moves alone; Geminadi was just a precursor."

Everyone moved to make the preparations. It was going to be a long day.

...

Saints was awake, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to be. At least when he was asleep, he had the blackness of ignorant oblivion to lose himself in. Being conscious, he was forced to suffer the loneliness at the abandonment of his former memories. The curse Liliana laid upon him had run it's course, leaving Saints completely hollow and tormented. He simply sat now with his back against the clammy stone wall, just waiting...and waiting...

And then the door to the dungeon creaked open. Saints was initially blinded by the flood of flickering orange torchlight that met his eyes. Then there was the soft scuffle of slippered feet coming down the stone stairs that lead to this dungeon. "Saints?"

Saints immediately recognized the cultured and husky voice of his lover. "Bloodthrone..."

She knelt beside him, and and cradled his head to her bosom. "When I heard what the mistress had done to you, I wanted to come to you sooner, but my entry was not permitted."

"It's alright," Saints said back. His eyes had since adjusted to the new wave of light. His lover's face poised so anxiously over his. Saints admired the way the torchlight played over her smooth alabaster skin; the look of loving worry on her face. He stood up now, slowly. It felt as though his muscles had become as rigid as the stone that confined him. "Let's get out of here."

They climbed the stone stairs and into the corridor. Saints was still seemingly having trouble getting his blood flowing; his joints ached with protest as he lumbered down the hallway back to his chambers. Saints crossed the threshold and, mustering the very last of his dignity, eased himself onto the bed, rather than simply collapsing on it.

He cradled bloodthrone in his arms as she pined for his attention. Her skin was cool to the touch; not with the clammy coldness often associated with the undead, but rather, a wonderfully pleasant lack of body heat that was the perfect relaxing offset to his less than tempered state of mind. Was it anger he was feeling right now? Yes. But there was something more, much more than the simplicity of a single directed emotion. There was a sort of wounded superiority within him; how could she; how _dare_ she treat him like this? He was the child of the black sun; the successor to the great Fausta's destiny. And who was Liliana? Just a simple witch; no one he couldn't easily kill on his own...

"Dearest?" Saints met his lover's eyes. She could always disarm with that name. "Though I cannot know how you truly feel at the moment, I empathize with you more than anything. The mistress always had...harsh ways of addressing failure. But she will always be shadowed in the weight of your destiny. Only _you _can awaken the black sun and unleash it's power; it is you who will inherit the world, not she." Bloodthrone rose from the bed. "I have something for you," she said. She crossed the room and picked up an oblong chest from atop the dresser. She handed it carefully to Saints, who rested it on his lap. "This is a treasure from my homeland of Zendikar, and the one thing I was allowed to keep before the mistress brought me here. This was kept in my family for more generations than I can remember, and now I want you to have it."

Saints unclasped the twin locks holding the chest closed and slowly raised the lid. And there, nestled in a bed of black silk, was a sight that made him smile from ear to ear. He recognized the weapon immediately, it was one he was always particularly fond of; he used it's card to great effect back home in his magic games.

It was the blade of the blood chief.

Saints removed the dual-bladed weapon from it's cradle. He moved to the center of the room and played it through the air. It had just the right weight to it; it felt perfect in his hands. "Thank you," he said. "This will do just fine."

...

Me and Wylis climbed the inn's stairs on our way back to our rooms, following an exhausting day of training and preparation of the city's peacekeepers for a black order attack. Night had fallen outside and we all agreed to reconvene in the square the next morning. We came to the door that was evidently to Wylis' room. He stopped and grinned at me. "So I guess this is good night?"

The question was innocent, but had just the right touch of mischievous hopefulness that made me smile in return. "Don't be stupid," I said, taking his hand. This would probably be the only night we could have alone together for a while, and I didn't want to waste it. My room was just two doors down from his. I walked the short distance backwards, my gaze on Wylis the whole time, never moving my eyes from his. I scrabbled for the doorknob and twisted it open. We entered my room and Wylis kicked the door closed, his eyes locked on me with a dreamy intensity. And no more than a blink later was he kissing me. Wylis' mouth was a wonderfully heated pressure that made me want to forget everything I had ever known. I pulled away for just a second. Though my heart felt like it was beating in my throat, I still had enough sense left to say, "Do you think I could get comfortable first, _before_ you attack me?"

"I-I'm sorry, of course," he stammered.

I made a show of getting ready while my thoughts raced. Back home, I was never really...into guys. Hell, I was practically one of them. I had always been a jeans-and-sneakers tomboy, all of my friends were guys, all of which I played magic the gathering with. And I happened to be in that young adult time frame where people really start growing into their looks. While I never considered myself the girly kind of pretty, with my angular face, thick hair, and olive skin, I still felt like I had _something_ to work with. And yet while all the girls in my school made a fuss over all the new fashion releases, and showing off their new boyfriends, I was largely left alone. I guess 'handsome' girls weren't what the boys wanted.

But here it was so much different. Not just Wylis, but I remember many instances of guys admiring me for a beauty I never really thought I had. It felt good, knowing I attracted Wylis without really trying, or meaning to for that matter. But I'm so glad I did.

I removed my gloves and my boots and put them at the foot of the bed. There, _now _I was ready for a make-out session.

Wylis approached me slowly, my blood rushed through my ears with an ocean's roar as he kissed me dreamily and gently pressed me into the bed. I was terrified; but in the most euphorically wonderful way possible. His mouth was soft and warm, his tongue glided so gently over mine. I loved it; the taste of his mouth; the waves of lovingly consensual heat were his breath. I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking my feet at the ankles, pulling him ever closer to me. I wanted more of him; I wanted all of him; I wanted to melt into his body and never let go.

Wylis finally pulled away and left us both breathing heavily. He was so gorgeous; the soft shape of his face, his hazel eyes, his long blond-white hair that tickled my face as he looked down at me. I knew what was on his mind next. I was thinking it too. And if Wylis wanted sex, I was _not_ going to stop him.

And then suddenly, there was a knock on the door. We both remained dead silent, feigning sleep. Then there was a timid voice through the door. "Um...I sincerely hope I'm not interrupting..." It was the voice of the inn keeper. What did _he_ want? "It's just that there's the small matter of your lodging charge, Mr. Wylis..."

"You forgot to pay the bill?" I asked him, barely containing my laughter.

"Well, not all of us are planeswalking super angels that lodge for free," He responded. "Besides, I had _other_ things on my mind." He kissed me gently and rose from the bed. "By the green sun," he said. "The black order is coming to destroy the world, and he still wants to turn a profit..."

He left the room and hashed over his lodging bill with the innkeeper. I remained right there on the bed, I was seemingly unable to move a single inch. It was the pressure of the memory; The weight of Wylis' body atop my own, what maybe would have occurred if that stupid prat had not disturbed us. Wylis had been gone all of thirty seconds and I already missed him.

It was this thought here that reminded me quite painfully of the life I was living here on Terra-Fausta. Or rather, the life I was suppose to be living. Did being the last hope of the world afford you any personal life whatsoever? Was there time for romantic relationships, or even a place for it? Would my feelings for this person cloud my judgment on the path that I was destined to travel? What would happen if Wylis were ever in danger, would I still be able to act rationally, or be driven to foolish extremes because of my love for him?

I remembered my fallen comrade Gideon. He seemed to have truly flourished as a planeswalker by adopting a sort of emotional isolation. His judgment and decision making power were never hampered by a love-clouded state of mind. Which is the exact opposite of what I'm doing. But I cant be blamed, I'm only human after all...or am I? I need to stop thinking like this, I'm killing myself. And there, as my brain shut down, so did my body. It was as though the sudden slowing of my thoughts had a physically pacifying effect on my body. My eyelids fluttered closed and I was lost to sleep.

...

'Angell...Angell...Angell...' the name bounced around inside of Geminadi's head, along with the image of it's owner. He had mustered every memory-wiping spell he could think of, all of which he had not the nerve to cast on himself. This was absurd. Geminadi had been alive for twenty-nine years and had _never _experienced this sort of...complication. And it was only when he thought of her that he felt it. Why was he so unnerved; so terrified by this feeling? There was absolutely no room for reservations. She was his target, she had to be eliminated, he had killed many people in his lifetime, what was one more?

But then her image swam in his mind again; her eyes, so clear and alive; her face, so fierce and lovely...Geminadi roared in confused frustration. He had to stop this, and of course, there was only one way to do so. He focused his planeswalker perception and in short time found her spark. And then he was off through the aether, on the trail of the source of his misery.

*End of chapter 19*

**-A/N: Me again. I have to apologize for being gone so long, I'm puttin' in mad hours at the job and it's cutting into my fic time. I know it's not cool to leave my followers hanging for months at a time, but no one's paying my bills for me, so I have to work for it. (Besides, if I didn't pay my comcast bill, I couldn't post to fanfic in the first place ;)**

** Other things keeping me busy are Persona 4 arena and magic the gathering online. Any MTGO players that wanna hit me up, my user name is: SAINTSandAWORDS. **

** So thanks again for the views and reviews. I'll update again as soon as I can.**

** - B.D. Skunkworks**

** PS; I'm sorry if this chapter is a little slow, I know it's mostly a bunch of romantic kerfluffle, but every story needs an emotional side, right? **


	20. Chapter 20

*Chapter 20*

**_May you be the one_

_ the everlasting flame of hope _

_ glorify the angels and fight their holy war._

_ Let me face the beast_

_ and every single devil's son_

_ I will free my mind_

_ and I will save her soul**_

_ -Rhapsody of Fire-Aeons of Raging Darkness_

_..._

Planeswalking. Though Geminadi was relatively new to the endeavor, he was already used to it. When your whole life was spent in the cover of darkness and death, you had to adapt to things quickly. And here he was, rushing across this landscape with a newly familiar phantasmal velocity, on his way to engage the one thing he was sure he could _never_ get used to.

It was then that he sensed something. It was quite a ways off, but it pierced his mind like a thorn. Whatever it was, it was angry, and it _definitely _wanted to get in his way. And then Geminadi slammed into a stone wall. He was forcibly ejected from the aether stream and landed on the hard-packed earth with a brain-jarring thud. Geminadi quickly regained his footing and saw that what he thought was a wall was actually a man...a very familiar one-armed man...

"I got a bone to pick with you," he said. "We never got to finish our little dance the first time around."

"I've no quarrel with you, planeswalker," Geminadi said. Apparently, this man had tracked his presence through the aether, and had come here to stop him. "You were simply a case of mistaken identity."

"My name is not, _planeswalker_," the man spat. "It's Jeriah Thel. And your only mistake was leaving me alive." he charged his white mana flow and produced his first spell. "Spectral Rider!" A transparent spirit knight materialized before him.

Seeing no other choice, Geminadi prepared his response. He would be sure to end this quickly; this was not the fight he wanted. He so longed to challenge _her;_ the planeswalker woman who danced constantly at the edges of his vision. This fool wouldn't take much effort to fell. "Mindshrieker!" A frightening spirit bird appeared from the aether and loosed a deathly wail.

"Child's play," Jeriah huffed. He drew his sabre and sent his rider forward, following closely after it.

Geminadi stood calm as he focused a small amount of mana into his creature. It then let out an ear-shattering shriek that stopped his opponent in his tracks. Jeriah clutched his skull as the spirit picked his brain. The extracted spell materialized before Geminadi. "Well, that was a clever one," he chuckled. "Too bad it's useless to you now." The Mindshrieker absorbed the errant mana and moved to stop the still charging Spectral Rider, but the rider phased right through Geminadi's creature and made to reap his head.

Geminadi kept his feet planted and coolly evaded the strike with a simple tilt of his head. He whirled on the creature then while mustering up the black half of his mana flow. "Killing Glare!" the rider instantly evaporated into dust.

"You know," Jeriah growled while regaining his wits. "I always hated blue mages. Now I've got something for your little pet." He focused his white mana and shouted, "Oblivion Ring!"

"Counterlash!" Jeriah's spell was lost to the aether. Geminadi chuckled. "Pathetic. Let me show you how it's done." He envisioned his target spell in his mind and said, "Way of the thief!" His Mindshrieker cawed with it's new enchanted power and made strait for Jeriah who, momentarily dazed from his sudden mana drain, was unable to stop it. It crashed into Jeriah and tore through the fabric of his tunic with it's ethereal claws. He fell to his knees in defeat, disbelief, and above all, excruciating pain. "Inaction Injunction!" was Geminadi's next spell. Jeriah was instantly bound by a prism of enchanted runes. "A little gift from the Azorius," he said.

Jeriah responded with a bitter defiance. "You're after Angell, aren't you?" he said.

Geminadi's upper lip curled above his teeth. Somehow, her name sounded like dirt coming from this lower life form's mouth. "I am indeed," he said back. "She will most certainly provide the challenge that you obviously could not."

Jeriah grinned crookedly. "I hope she kicks your ass."

"Part of me hopes so too," Geminadi said. And then he departed through the aether once again, leaving Jeriah imprisoned and utterly confused.

...

The dawn came too quickly. The first rays of sunlight played across my face and pulled me towards consciousness. My head was rested on Wylis' arm as I used it for a pillow. He was still sleeping and I took the chance to admire him. He was so beautiful, perhaps even more so now due to the vulnerability of sleep. It's only at times like this can you see the whole of someone; no facades, no fronts, and no gimmicks. I hope I get this kind of chance again in the future.

I leaned over and kissed his sleep-parted lips. Instantly his hands locked around my waist and pulled me into straddling his hips. Our mouths were locked for just a while longer before I pulled away. "No fair. I thought you were asleep," I whined.

"I've learned to sleep very lightly, dear Angell," he said back.

Maybe I was wrong about the vulnerability.

"You know we have to get down to business today," I said.

"I've always liked to mix my business with a little pleasure..." Wylis whispered softly. He pulled me into another kiss. My body simply melted. His tongue parted my lips with a practiced expertise as his hands glided steadily down my back. He gripped the hem of my skirt and bunched it up over my arse.

I pulled away, breathless. I could feel Wylis' growing manhood poking me in the belly. Of course. Guys were always..._energetic_ in the morning. I wanted this; _really_ wanted this with Wylis. But now was not the time. I jumped from the bed and made for my gear. "Maybe later," I said.

Wylis raised himself from the bed as well and stretched like a cat. "I'm going to hold you to that," he said with a wink. He left the room to retrieve his own gear.

I was re-equipped in short order, with Kenziner strapped firmly to my back. 'Never again' I thought. Never again would I leave my blade behind. I left the room and found Wylis in the corridor, prepped and ready for battle. And that's what I was afraid of. Suddenly some overwhelming force of protective apprehension flooded my being. "Wylis... I want you to stay here," I said.

Wylis' face and voice were deadly stern as he said, "Angell, there is no way on the eyes of Terra that I'm letting you go alone."

I wondered if just for a second that I may have hurt his ego; Weren't men supposed to charge valiantly into battle as their women stayed behind and prayed for their safe return? No. This was loyalty, not just to me, but to the cause; for the fight against the black order. "But, Wylis. What if-"

"-Something happens to me?" he said with an incredulous smile. "Nothings going to happen to me." He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close for a passionate embrace. "I've got _you _to come back to."

I hugged him back and I knew right there that I loved him. Maybe I was over thinking things last night. Maybe love would only cloud your vision if you allowed it to. Instead, maybe it could be used as a source of strength; a guiding inspiration. I wanted Wylis to be my strength. And I would be his.

We made our way out of the inn and into the early sunlight. There was just a slight morning chill in the air as we overlooked the square of Lu-Restia. As per my orders, all doors were locked tight and the citizens moved to safety. Of course we would be leaving as well, as not to bring any undo damage to the city. If the black order did re-surge and leave a portion of their numbers here, I was confident in the peacekeepers of the city to do their best in dealing with them.

And just as the thought crossed my mind, a legion of the armored soldiers marched into the courtyard. They were an impressive sight; their mana smiths had worked through the night in order to supply them with their new enchanted weaponry and hexproof armor. They formed precise and orderly rows just in front of me as they stood at attention. I stepped forward as to get them all in my line of sight. "The day has come," I said to them all. "Your time to stand for the white order is upon you. Please know that all of you are in my thoughts as you undertake this endeavor. Fight for the city; fight for the world; but most importantly..." I glanced towards Wylis for just a moment, "fight for those you love, as you will be on their minds as well."

They all gave the fist-to-heart salute in unison and then their leader stepped forward. "Great angel," she said. "Know that it is an honor beyond our dreams to fight in your name."

"Thank you," I said. "But if I could ask just one thing of you..."

"Anything."

"What is _your_ name?"

The peacekeeper captain stood erect and said proudly, "My name is Balista, great angel."

"Do take care, Balista," I said.

The peacekeepers saluted me again, and in great roaring unison they cried, "MAY THE ZENITH GRANT YOU STRENGTH!"

I inclined my head in thanks and then turned for the gates of the city, with Wylis at my side. We were off once again, to do battle with the black order.

...

Saints was ready. He was fully prepared and suited for battle. The vampiress servants of the castle had created a new vestment for him. It was of course still jet-black, but fit his body much more closely, allowing for a greater ease of movement. The material was woven in tight, interlocking patterns that made it near impervious to such things as arrows and knives and other blades. And at his request, they even touched up his Mohawk.

He strapped his newly gifted blade of the blood chief across his back in it's simple clasp sheathe and sharpened his focus as he searched for Angell's presence among the aether of Terra-Fausta. "So you are leaving," said a velvety stern voice behind him.

Saints instantly recognized the voice of his mistress, what behooved him was how she was able to enter the room without her spark foretelling her arrival. Saints made a show of giving his newly oiled gauntlets a thorough and needless adjustment. "Yes, I'm leaving," he said slowly.

Something flashed across Liliana's face just then, but it was gone too quickly for Saints to accurately read it. "I am sensing a change," she said finally.

"A change?" His question held sarcasm, and a cleverly conveyed disbelief.

"In the balance of the world," Liliana said in answer. "Both the black and white suns are nearer than they have ever been."

"And that's why _I'm _here," Saints said. "To awaken the zenith and raise the black sun. And no change of power or god-damned angel is going to stop me." With that, he turned on the spot and vanished from the room.

...

Me and Wylis had come quite a far ways from the city; it was barely visible on the horizon now which was some feat as we were traveling by foot. We had no real destination in mind, we just wanted to put as much distance between us and Lu-Restia as we could.

The sun was just past the middle of the sky as it made it's way towards it's eventual cradle in the west. Me and Wylis had not shared many words since our departure; we knew what was to transpire soon, there was seemingly no sense in discussing it. My planeswalker perception net was cast far and wide, when the black order did show themselves, I wanted to be amply ready.

And just as I had the thought, my mind came under attack. I stopped dead in my tracks as my head snapped towards the horizon. Wylis immediately knew what this meant. "They're coming, aren't they?" he said, making his hunter's bow at readiness.

The spark I was sensing was still a ways off, but it was closing fast. And it was absolutely unmistakable. I'd never confuse it for another. "It's Saints," I said.

And as though responding to the mention of his name, Saints materialized no more than five feet in front of me on this hard-packed plain. He straitened himself as he grinned manically. "Didja...miss me?" he crooned.

"All too much, old friend," I said with an equal sense of irony. Already I could feel my spark spreading the familiar heat through my body. Out here in the wilderness, with nothing to interfere with us, there would be nothing that could stop me and Saints from killing one another.

This could well be our final battle.

"Wylis, please, do not interfere," I told him.

He stared at me with a wounded disbelief. "Angell, we already settled this," he said. "I would fight by your side no matter what."

"Well that was then, and those were just words. But this is much bigger than you seem to understand; _I want you to stay out of this_." I knew I was being vicious, but I didn't seem in control of myself. Here I was confronted by my greatest enemy; the entire reason I was called to Terra-Fausta; the antithesis to my existence. If I had the chance to kill him I was going to take it, Wylis would just get in the way. I pointed off towards a thicket of trees a few yards from our position. "Hide yourself," I told him.

Wylis' ego definitely seemed damaged. At length he said with great effort, "I respect the planeswalker honor, but I _will_ interject if you get in trouble, Angell." He then retreated for the trees.

Saints laughed uproariously, "My, my, how stern we are with our new boy-toys!" The question of how could he have known that must have shown on my face. "Oh, please," he said. "I'm the bad guy; I know everything." He then readied himself as he drew a long and crooked blade from his back. I instantly recognized the Zendikarian weapon. Just how could he have gotten that? I drew Kenziner from it's sheathe and focused my mana flow. Here and now was when I killed Saints. Nothing was going to stop me this time.

Almost nothing anyway.

Both of our heads snapped southwards as we sensed the incoming spark. "What's this?" Saints said. I knew who it was instantly. The mix of blue and black was unmistakable. And right in the center of our stand off appeared Geminadi. His eyes were alive with a feral excitement as they lighted on me. Great. Now I had _two_ planeswalkers to battle at once. But even their combined efforts would fail against me. "Just who the hell are you?" Saints barked.

Geminadi turned and faced Saints. "The question should be, who are _you?" _His voice carried with a minimal of actual interest. It was as if Saints was beneath his notice. "And even then it does not matter," Geminadi continued. "I am here to challenge Angell; you will not stop me from doing so."

"You have got to be kidding me," Saints said. He sharpened his perception and regarded Geminadi for a silent moment. "You're definitely black order...but you're something else too."

"The black order of my world is vastly different from yours, as you seemed to have put together," Geminadi said.

"Well, this much is obvious; we both want the bitch dead," Saints said. "So why not split the job? She has little chance against us both."

Geminadi stared a hole right through Saints and said with a deadly calm, "The right to challenge Angell lies solely with me. Interfere and you will be dealt with."

Saints laughed with an unamused mirth. "_You_? Deal with _me_?" He seemed all set to jump Geminadi, but he seemed to think better of it at the moment. "Perhaps this could work," he said thoughtfully. "You work her over, and when she's through throttling you, I can have what's left. So go ahead, mister Dimir, fire away." He bowed his way out of Geminadi's presence with a disingenuous sneer.

Geminadi turned to face me. I readied Kenziner in my battle stance, pointing it's tip right at his heart. I studied him for just a moment before I said, "So, planeswalker, you sought the Daybreaker; you have her."

Geminadi raised the Dimir charm on his right hand. "Yes," he said. "Now we'll see which is the stronger of the two of us."

No more words were exchanged. I charged forward, plunging myself into battle once again.

*End of Chapter 20*

**A/N- Hurray! Another successful update, and pretty timely too, I might add. Just dropping a line here as I complain about stuff ( my lousy K/D ratio in halo 4, how hard Yukiko is to play in P4A, why I still haven't got my dragon's maze fat pack, and bla, bla, bla). **

** Anyway thanks guests and visitors alike for the views, favs, and reviews. I'll update again as soon as i can.**

** -B.D. Skunkworks**


	21. Chapter 21

*Chapter 21*

Geminadi stood firm as Angell charged him. He remained calm, already knowing she had made a careless blunder. She had attacked first. He recalled his first instructions upon his acceptance into house Dimir. _All of your opponents in life are like books. They will always open themselves up to you. Then it is simply a matter of reading them and learning what is contained within. _Geminadi then called upon a mental technique he learned from his time spent in the Duskmantle. He cast his thoughts inwards, severing the bond between his mind and his body; becoming one with his shadow. He danced out the way of Angell's sword strokes with a languid, balletic grace that no normal man could have consciously mustered.

Angell's final stroke was a forward stab that was meant to run him through, but Geminadi turned his body sideways and skillfully caught the length of her blade in the crook of his left arm. He lifted her arm taught, hearing her gasp in surprise. He snapped his left leg up and around her arm, the heel of his boot crushing her elbow. He then struck the heel of his palm into her nose, staggering her back several feet. Geminadi kept hold of Angell's sword as she recovered herself. He looked at it now. It was wonderfully crafted. A slim zweihander with an onyx hilt. Almost as beautiful as it's wielder. Of course, Geminadi had no need of a sword, so he cast the weapon aside and turned back to his opponent.

Angell had regained her composure. Seeing now that, without her weapon, the terms were pretty much even. She tapped her mana flow as she cried, "I have need of aid! Gather the towns folk!"

"No," Geminadi said. He flashed the Dimir charm on his hand and Angell's eyes were filled instantly with it's dark light. Her spell was lost to the aether as she lost her senses. "Your sorcery is but useless against me, Angell. You have no chance." He again melted into his own shadow as he rapidly approached her. She could not see his physical form, only a shadow moving swiftly across the ground towards her.

Geminadi reached her and began to pummel her. His strikes landed with a clinical precision as she reeled this way and that from the force of his blows. He finally connected with an open force palm to her abdomen which sent her flying a good ten feet. It was then that Geminadi noticed someone closing quickly onto their field of battle. It was the green mage he remembered seeing briefly in the city's square not too long ago. His bow was at the ready and he had an arrow primed in Geminadi's direction. "Stay where you are!" Geminadi screamed at him. Suddenly a cast of ethereal hands rose from the aether and wound themselves around his target. The man swore in frustration as he was rendered immobile. "Behold the hands of binding," Geminadi said. "You or no one else will interfere." He turned back to Angell, who was still on the ground, hunched over in pain.

How easy this had been, he thought. His first feeling was that of disappointment. He had expected better from this woman. This woman whose image danced in mind since their first meeting. He fully expected her to be his maker; his undoing, but he had clearly been wrong. There was nothing left then but to end her, and live with the misery.

He took his shadow form again and raced toward his target. Angell looked to offer no resistance to his progress. He was just upon her now, when suddenly, he was stopped in his tracks. Angell's head had snapped upwards to look at him, and now he saw it. Her eyes were alive with an unfathomable fury of righteousness he had never before seen in a living soul. Her eyes glowed a piercing angelic white and absolutely paralyzed him on the spot. "Stave off!" she shouted. Geminadi was hurled backwards by a blinding concussion of white mana. But with his Dimir-taught agility, he was able to land on his feet.

Angell was approaching him now, slowly. Geminadi could feel her spark ablaze with fury. And, it seemed, she was accompanied by two flying spirits that floated about her being. Just where had those come from? "I guess you don't recognize midnight haunting," she said. "You can dispel everything else, but you will never keep up with my instants." she spoke with a fearsome conviction that drew awed tribute from Geminadi. And the she sent her spirits forward. Geminadi couldn't ready himself fast enough. The spirits phased through his body again and again. Though no physical effects of harm showed themselves on the surface, he could feel tiny amounts of his life force being pulled away with each successive attack. And then Angell shouted, "Show of valor!" One of her spirits let loose a deathly invigorated wail and tore through Geminadi's body. The force of the attack lifted him off his feet and sent him sprawling onto his back.

He suddenly aware of the black mage he had encountered on his arrival here. He sneered down at him and cackled, "Don't look at me, I can't help you. _You_ wanted this, remember?"

He did remember. He _did_ want this. He wanted to test the spark of his newly discovered planeswalker might, and more over, he wanted to test the strength of this ferociously beautiful angel before him, to learn whether the thoughts he had of her being the one to deliver him to his final destination (among other thoughts he had of her) were ever to come to fruition.

Yes, he did want this.

Geminadi focused both halves of his mana flow; harnessing the power of death while simultaneously controlling a strenuous speed of mind. "Come forth, Consuming Aberration!" A massive insect-like creature rose up before him. It's body was elongated like a ghastly centipede and covered from head to tip in razor sharp bone-spines. It reared on it's mid legs and gnashed at the air with it's barbed pincers. Before Angell could fathom the horror of the thing, Geminadi's shadow was already racing across the ground towards her. He stopped short, just close enough to touch her with his outstretched finger. As though in a sort of a time-defying lack of speed, but at the same time moving faster than Angell could stop him, Geminadi touched the index finger of his right hand to her forehead and whispered, "Mindsculpt." Instantly he felt the focus of her thoughts shatter inside her mind. Her eyes faded to a dull glow as she seemed to momentarily become lifeless. At the same time, his Aberration roared with an empowered hunger that gave Geminadi all he needed to know. "Go forth and consume her!"

The aberration charged forth on it's needle-tipped legs and opened it's great gaping maw, heading strait for Angell. _It ends here_. Geminadi thought.

"ANGELL!" Geminadi turned his head in the direction of the cry. It was the green mage again. He was still trapped in the hands of binding, but that did not stop him from screaming at the top of his lungs. "ANGELL MOVE!"

As though brought to by the sound of her name, Angell suddenly snapped back to alertness. What surprised Geminadi the most about her awakening, was her ease back into consciousness. Her eyes came slowly back into focus as she calmly took in the sight of the stampeding creature headed full-tilt in her direction. With a gesture that made to seem the aberration barely being beneath her notice, Angell twirled her hand and simply said, "Guildscorn Ward." Geminadi's creature was stopped but mere inches from it's target, Struggling against, it seemed, some kind of invisible barrier. "Away with you," she said calmly. Geminadi's aberration was sent careening backwards with a small flick of her wrist. It landed in a massive crumpled heap of fangs and anger. Angell continued with her next spell, "Sphere of safety." She was instantly surrounded by a bubble of heavenly, alabaster light that glowed like a pearl in the darkness. She began to walk forward now, toward Geminadi. Her steps were slow and purposeful, as thought she wanted Geminadi to behold the fearsomely glorious sight of her. "Have you anything else for me?" Underneath Geminadi's shock and confusion, there was something else. Something that he was taught to dispose of upon his first acceptance into the Duskmantle. Something that he had not felt in more than six years.

Fear.

Angell's slow approach shocked him into action. "Aberration! CONSUME HER!" Immediately, Geminadi felt what remained of his mana flow forcibly removed from his body. Of course! It was her enchantment! He had seen it before. Why had he been so panicked as to fall strait into an attack?

But it was too late, his Aberration was committed to it's order. It charged at Angell who simply lifted her index finger and pointed at it and said, "Divine Verdict." Instantly his creature fell away to a pile of gray ashes, that Angell crunched under her boots as she advanced. And now exhausted and thoroughly drained of mana, Geminadi crumpled to his knees in defeat.

His whole vision now was taken up by Angell; burning as bright as all the suns of eternity before him. Her eyes were locked on his, so full of a silently conveyed satisfaction that said, _'Even on your knees, you are barely worth being in my presence' _She reached her right out away from her, the palm upwards, as though beckoning something by sheer force of her awesome will. And with a singing shriek, her sword flew across the battlefield and into her outstretched hand. She placed the edge of it's blade against Geminadi's neck and said, "I don't know much about who you are, but being a member of the black order, you will be made an example of." She raised the blade and made to reap his head. And it was here did Geminadi think, and not for the first time, that he had never seen anything, or _anyone_, so beautiful in his life before.

...

I felt the spark before I saw it's owner. I was in mid swing as I made to cut Geminadi's head off, when the full force of the blow sent me flying backwards. Avidoz had appeared from the aether, and if I were to hazard a guess, I would venture that he was not happy right now.

He lowered his scythe along his body as he regarded Geminadi. "You were useless to me after all," he spat at him. "This battle is not over yet. Raise yourself now or I will kill you were you lie."

Geminadi looked to Avidoz blankly, and then his head slowly swiveled to look at me. I looked deep into his eyes from where I stood an I saw something there, something I never thought I would see in a planeswalker's eyes. It wasn't just defeat, it was also a kind of morbidly appreciative surrender. It was as though all the fight had been taken out of him, but for some reason, it made him happy. "No," he said simply.

"What did you say?" The utterly surprised disbelief that could not be seen on Avidoz's face shone through his voice instead.

"I met Angell in legitimate combat, and was defeated fairly. She holds the only command on my life as of now."

"Imbecile!" Avidoz cried. "If you're so set on dying, then JUST DIE ALREADY!" And in a motion quicker than what I thought he was capable of, Avidoz raised his scythe and sliced Geminadi's head clean off. There was no blood spray, but instead, a brilliant sort of black light enveloped his body. His entire person was gone before he could slump to the ground.

I certainly was not remorseful for Geminadi, as I was planning on killing him myself, but Avidoz's decision certainly surprised me. "I really must thank you, Avidoz," I said to him. "You just make this easier and easier for me; the black order murdering each other?" I pointed my sword at Saints, who Avidoz had yet to even notice until now. "I suppose you will be wanting to lop his head off next?"

"Weakness, even among our own ranks, cannot be tolerated," he said back to me. "And our little saint here, is far too useful to off with such disdain."

"Useful, huh?" Saints said. "That's funny. Even if you wanted to off me, you and I both know that you lack the...fortitude to do so. _Angell,_ on the other hand..." Saints looked to me with a barely concealed battle lust that once again caused my spark to ignite.

"Which is exactly what I am counting on," Avidoz said. He lifted his sight to the horizon and was quiet for a moment. "Even from here, I can sense the collection of her little toys, lined up so nicely just to be knocked down again.

I knew what he meant. The force of peace keepers that stood ready in Lu-Restia. "If you think-"

"It's not about what I think," Avidoz cut in. "It's about what I _know_. And we happen to both know that, while their numbers are indeed impressive, they have no chance against what's coming to them. And while I move on the city, you will be too lost in your own personal battle of superiority here to do much about it. But only time will tell, little angel, if you are willing to prove me wrong." And without another word, he departed through the aether stream.

"Nice speech," Saints said. "And you know he's right."

I shook my head. "No. My soldiers will be ready for him, and anything else he can bring."

"Not about them," Saints said. "He's right about us."

Of course he was. Nothing inside me could deny it. There was nothing that could tear me away from the battle we were to fight in our destinies. Although I felt this way, I refused to let Saints have the satisfaction. "And what makes you think Avidoz is the final word on anything?"

"Still playing superiority games," Saints huffed. He began to pace in a thoughtful circle. "Someone told me something a short time ago. She said the balance of the world is changing, and she's right. I think it's changing in _your_ favor. You may be more powerful than me, and even then, you still can't kill me."

"I beg to differ," I said. While my whole focus was on Saints, I could suddenly feel Wylis on the edge of my perception. He was free from Geminadi's binding and had drawn close enough to overhear what we were saying.

"Think about it," Saints continued. All the meetings we had; all those chances to kill one another, and we still couldn't manage it. It's because we're missing something, I can feel it."

I did not want to outright agree with him, but something in the bottom of my soul knew he was right. But, of course, whatever piece of this cosmic puzzle we both happened to be lacking was something that was beyond his recognition, and obviously mine as well.

"She also told me that the black and white suns are nearer than they've ever been, and I can feel that, right about here." He pointed to a spot on his chest right above his heart. He made a face and lowered his pointed finger to just over his stomach. "Or here. Wherever the hell your soul happens to be."

"And just how do you know any of this for certain?" I responded. "Maybe this person of yours is wrong."

"Oh, no, she's never wrong," Saints said comically. "Her facts are always either exaggerated or untrue, but she's never wrong, no, no."

"So why are you telling me any of this?" I said sharply. I had the feeling he had a point to make, but he was in no rush to make it.

"Because I think things are finally coming to head here between us, Angell. All the signs are there; the waning economy; all time high murder rate; strife in the middle east..." he trailed off with a pleasantly confused look on his face, "Wait a minute..."

Apparently, despite the inevitable cadenza of our battle, he still had a sense of humor. I did not share the sentiment. I pointed Kenziner at him, "So what you are saying is, if we had it out right here, neither of us would come to harm?"

"Precisely," Saints said. "That's the way it's worked so far. I think it's up to the zeniths; _they_ will tell us when the time has come, so until then..." Saints held his arms out and took a lay step backwards, and then was gone in the aether.

Wylis finally joined my side as I remained in a deep-seated silence. "Angell," he said. "Do you think that could be true, what he said?"

"It is, more than likely," I said back. I looked to his face, so full of the kind of concern that only shows itself to those you most care about. "Wylis, I'm so sorry."

"For what?" he said.

"For the way I treated you earlier; just brushing you aside like that..."

"It's fine, really," he said back. "When that happens, I know it's just your spark working as it would." He drew me into an embrace and I buried my head in his leather-clad chest. "It's not like you can control it, and besides, you're the greatest hope of Terra-Fausta; we need a gal with a little fire."

I lifted my head to look into his eyes. The way he looked back at me; filled with love, concern, and trust. I know he would be there for me no matter when or where, and I was never going to cast him aside again. I framed his face with my hands and pulled him down to kiss me. It was the kind of kiss that let him know that I wanted him forever, but maybe, given our lives, we didn't have forever. So forever was going to just have to be this finite moment. I pulled away from him. "I love you, Wylis."

"And I love you, Angell," he said. His eyes were were so full of that dreamy quality that only could bring out of him. My heart raced knowing that he only looked at me like that. But then, very slowly, another look came into his eyes. "You're going after him, aren't you?" I'm sure it was Saints he meant.

I nodded slowly. "I have to," I said.

Wylis turned to the horizon; the direction of Lu-Restia. "Fine. I'll remain here and aid the mage-knights against Avidoz." He turned back to me."You're going to be okay, right? "

"Of course I am," I said. "I've got you to come back to."

Wylis beamed from ear to ear as he kissed me again. It was a lingering pressure that spoke of parting and the hope of reuniting. He pulled away from me and said, "Well, better get going then..."

"Please be careful, Wylis," I said.

"And you, great angel." He turned quickly and dashed back to the city.

I watched him as he faded in the distance, hoping against all hope that fate would not take him away from me. And as for my well being, I had no doubt in my mind that I could fell Saints. But everything he said still lingered in my head. Just what was it we were missing? Just how close were we to finding the zeniths? And what would happen afterward? Saints may have had all of the questions, but he had none of the answers. And neither did I. The best and only way to maybe get them, was to follow Saints through the aether. I sharpened my focus, and was lost again through the flow of time.

*End of Chapter 21*

**A/N: Ah, yes, June; Juni, as they call it in Deutschland. Month of my birth( the 12th. I'll be twenty-six, older than fucking dirt). No better time for an update, eh? Another thanks to the guests and members that took (and will take) the time to give my story a read. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to reading the city of lost souls, Mortal Instruments FTW!**


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